


Of Red Cliffs and Blue Seas

by ReadWithDetermination



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Angst and Humor, Cherryberry - Freeform, Cotton Candy Lobsters, Eventual Romance, M/M, Merman!Blue, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, They FINALLY freaking kissed, Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadWithDetermination/pseuds/ReadWithDetermination
Summary: Red expects to find peace upon moving to the rocky coastline.  Instead, a monkey wrench is thrown into his plans by a little mermonster by the name of Blue.
Relationships: Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 297
Kudos: 265





	1. CHAPTER ONE:  "Gonna Get Me Some R&R"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spectascopes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectascopes/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red has recently moved to the rocky coastline and plans to relax with a new hobby. However, he's been having trouble with his lobster traps lately. Maybe he'll finally have some luck today?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this idea from Spectascopes' Tumblr post found here: https://spectascopes.tumblr.com/post/190403340239/cant-stop-thinkin-about-cherryberry-bitty-bones
> 
> I'm not sure what it is with me and half my fics recently revolving around either snow or the ocean, but here, have another!
> 
> Also, if anyone want to read a really good, hilarious (albeit a bit NSFW) work set in another underwater/mermaid AU, take a look this one that I've been following from comic4244 and gaylie (you won't have a butt afterwards because you'll have laughed it off halfway through. And maybe had your heart crushed): https://archiveofourown.org/works/18917935/chapters/44910241

CHAPTER ONE: "Gonna Get Me Some R&R"  
\---------------

In the summer, the damp, sweltering heat coming off the ocean felt like it might boil you as you walked along the shore. Or rather, it would to most anyone who wasn't a skeleton monster. Folks like Red, though? They didn't have to worry about becoming a nice bone broth whenever they took a dip in the pristine coastal waters. Temperatures that were extreme to other monsters caused only the slightest discomfort to a skeleton. 

Still, Red preferred the biting chill of winter over the bleaching scorch of those hotter months. He had grown up in a small, rural town that saw a great deal of snow and ice throughout the course of the winter months (and, often, part of autumn or spring), so living somewhere that the ocean spray literally froze in the wind, naturally capturing movement without use of camera or canvas, fondly reminded him of those early years.

How long had it been since he had moved from that town, venturing forth into the world to follow his hopes and dreams?

Too long, Red felt. Now, despite the legendary longevity of his race, he felt the weight of the world weigh upon him as though he were as old as the vermiilion cliffs overhanging the bay. Some days, his bones felt as though someone had gleaned every ounce of iron from those fiery-colored rocks and smelted the world's heaviest set of armor - cast with him inside.

He was alone now, having recently moved into the little house well above the bay. He had lived along the ocean long enough to know that if you wanted to stay dry, you needed to move high. The cozy little cabanas that dotted the beaches in warmer climes often had to be rebuilt or replaced due to seasonal storms, but Red's house? Certainly, it still might feel the wrath of a powerful storm and be struck by a flying branch or two, but the likelihood of waking up to having his bedroom suddenly transformed into an indoor swimming pool wasn't very high. Neither did this region get more than the occasional gale. He had traded all but the rarest of hurricanes for these rockier shores, but that was fine by him.

The souls who lived in his spread-out neck of the woods were hardy folk that were content to keep to themselves. The less nosy, messy neighbors he had to deal with, the better.

On his days off, he preferred to just relax. Really, any time he could get away with it, he would. His job as a butcher kept him on his toes, lugging around heavy boxes nearly half his size and slabs of meat that were far broader than he was wide, so he was often exhausted at the end of the day. Oh, he knew he couldn't blame all of his tiredness solely on his job, and he probably could stand to get into a bit better shape, but if he wanted to just slack off and enjoy his solitude when he wasn't on the clock, then why not?

Besides, it gave him a chance to try his hand at his newest hobby: lobster fishing.

He had learned at a young age how to fish. His father had been proud of his ingenuity in rigging up bottle traps to catch bait minnows. Red supposed that was a trait innate to most monsters: the love of puzzles and traps. It was a mark of pride to be able to provide for the family, no matter how small a contribution it was, and Red still remembered the fond looks and glowing praise from his father and brother. 

However, fishing along the coast was different from the vast lakes near his hometown. And the crunchier bottom feeders around his new residence were far tastier than the eels and lampreys of his childhood. He already knew how to fish for crabs from living in more temperate regions, and crayfish - while rarer - weren't the strangest thing he'd found in one of his freshwater traps. One of his coworkers had told him how to use lobster traps and what sort of bait to use, and had even been generous enough to show him how to make his own. Of course, the woven baskets weren't nearly as tough as modern metal cages, so Red had also procured a few of those to give it a go.

And he'd found that, with a little magic injected into the mix, he was easily able to get results.

Oh, if only his brother could be here! He was the real gourmet of the family. He'd have loved to have been out here where he had access to a fresh supply of ingredients whenever he wanted-

Red frowned, gingerly taking down the portrait from atop his fireplace mantel and giving it a long look. It seemed like years since he had last seen his brother. Edge had grown into a fine monster, proud and strong. It pained him to remember the last time they spoke. Oh, how he just wanted to pick up the phone, call the other skeleton and pour his heart out, but...

He sighed and put the photograph back.

It was better this way.

Perhaps, one day, Edge would forgive him. One day...

He turned and headed to the garage, scooping up the rough hemp bag that contained his dried herring and the mesh bait bags he had tossed within. After slinging it over his shoulder, he headed out of the house and down to the shore.

The place he chose to set his traps was about as private as one could get. He had purchased the property knowing that it had access to the shore, and had fallen in love with the little inlet that cut down between the cliffs. The rocky walls formed a natural barrier, creating almost a little cove as they jutted outward. The secret beach was about three times the length of his house and led out toward some wicked-looking jagged rocks, so it wasn't the picturesque view that most travelers wanted. 

But to Red? There was something beautiful in the imposing, the way the stone spires jutted up like the spectral fingers of some ancient sea spirit when the fog loomed over them. The same, too, went for the handful of spindly trees that poked up around the back of the beach. Over the past few months, he had often come down here, sitting on a large driftwood log, worn smooth by the surf until it was a perfect natural bench, watching the moon as it dipped beneath the distant waves at night. It was so, so beautiful, and his private nook, protected him from most jet skis and other speeding boats with its intimidating entrance and provided him with a solace amidst the forlorn.

Of course, this wasn't to say that the inlet couldn't be navigated. After all, there was a little dock and a tiny boat that Red occasionally used. He might not have had the greatest HP, mind you, but he also didn't have to worry so much about drowning from his vessel capsizing.

It had been easy enough to map out the location of all of the more dangerous rocks once he got underwater. There wasn't nearly as much danger as it seemed, but it was enough to scare off most drunken boaters and reckless youth, so they served their purpose. Besides, some of those rocks formed a perfect area that cut off some of the wilder surf and provided plenty of rocky shoals for delectable sea creatures to congregate.

With the help of a little magical redirection, Red maneuvered his tiny boat through a narrow pass in the rocks some distance away and dropped anchor before grabbing the float that signaled the location of his first trap.

Slowly, he reeled in the line until he could see the basket starting to make its way to the surface. Once it got close, however, he frowned.

Empty.

Not just empty, mind you, but wide open.

He stuffed some fresh bait into a mess bag and reaffixed the door to the trap before dropping it back into the bay.

Then he moved onto the second one.

Again, no bait, wide open cage door.

Refilled with bait, sunk like the first.

This went on for the next three traps until finally, he reached the last one: his only remaining woven lobster trap.

Red knew that some predators could easily shred through the baskets if they wanted the lobsters badly enough, but he didn't know of any that could make such clean cuts. At first, only one or two of his cages would be open, and he figured that maybe, just maybe, an octopus had gotten smart enough to figure out the latches. But when his baskets were cut clean open? He knew somebody had to have been coming around there.

He just couldn't figure out who!

See, Red had rigged up a game camera overlooking the cliff, trying to figure out who had noticed him putting out the traps and was coming back in to rob them. Unfortunately, the fog had been thick ever since he rigged it up about two weeks prior, so he hadn't had any luck.

For almost a month now, this had been happening, and it flew all over Red. Why didn't they just take the damn traps and be done with it? Why did they have to destroy his hard work on his homemade baskets? Whoever the asshole was robbing his traps was waiting until Red baited them (do you have any idea how expensive herring can get?). It was adding insult to injury, is what it was!

As he pulled up the final trap, he gritted his teeth, just knowing he was going to see another eviscerated trap and all of the wasted time and effort that he put into making it.

Instead, as the basket drew near the surface, he caught sight of something pale and pearlescent inside of the (thankfully intact) trap. As he lifted it from the water, he swore, completely in awe at what he was seeing:

Inside was the most beautiful sea creature he had ever laid eyes upon - and he didn't mean that in that he was hungry and the lobster looked ready to eat!

No, this lobster was like an opal come to life. As he turned the basket around, he saw what looked like clouds of white, pastel blue and cotton candy pink had all meshed together to coat this crustacean in a coloring unlike anything he had ever seen before. As the water dripped off its shell, it glittered in the early morning sunlight like a thousand stars were peeking through the clouds that made up its exoskeleton.

Red couldn't believe it.

He'd seen photographs of this sort of thing before. These rare cotton candy lobsters, as they were called, were a genetic anomaly that hardly ever made it to adulthood to be captured by fishermen - let alone spotted by any! And for good reason: most creatures were born able to camouflage themselves to blend into their surroundings. Ones with unusual color patterns often wound up as lunch for larger predators.

Instantly, he was torn.

Should he call the wildlife and fisheries crew and give the lobster to them? Something as special as this little one would likely make it a prime candidate for an aquarium. It would be safe and protected that way, with no chance of being taken out by a hungry octopus or any of the numerous fish that roamed these waters.

"Hey, there, Gorgeous," he said, turning the trap around. The lobster didn't seem to care that he was there and continued to happily munch on bits of herring from the mesh bag it had torn open. "Hey, Beauty. How did you wind up in my trap?"

Man, did Red ever count himself lucky! If he had gone out any later, whoever had been robbing his traps might have gotten a hold of this little guy! Who knows what would have happened then? They probably would have eaten him like any other lobster.

He stared at the lobster for a minute before making his decision. He opened the trap and took out his phone, snapping a few pictures of the lobster. He shuffled the trap until the lobster gently slid out into the floor of Red's boat. Surprisingly, it did not snap at Red when he picked it up, choosing to continue munching on a fish head instead. Red took a few more shots, holding it up and taking a few photos so that both the gluttonous lobster and his face were in the shot. Then, he sat his phone aside and put the lobster back into the cage.

After grabbing a few mesh bags stuffed to the brim with dried herring, he stuffed them into his vest pocket and let the trap fall back into the water. 

Then he jumped in after it.

Unlike other monsters, skeletons didn't actually need to breathe. They had no lungs, after all, so there was no risk of drowning. Red was a decent swimmer, too, and with his magic, he wasn't too worried about being swept out to sea on a calm day. Down he plunged, following the trap to the bottom of the cove. Once he reached the seabed, he looked around at the shoals nearby and found what he was looking for:

A perfect lobster-sized hole, just big enough for the little guy to hide in. 

He summoned a bright red bone and used it to poke around inside for any current residents. Upon finding none, he took the bait bags and crammed them in as far as they would go, then packed them in with the bone. Finally, he retrieved his trap, pulling it over to the hole and opening it. He propped it up against the hole so that the lobster could crawl in after the fresh bait.

Proudly surveying his work, he nodded to himself. That little guy had outsmarted predators long enough to become a decent size, so Red was sure he would continue do so for a while longer. After all, nobody liked being forced away from their home, and Red hated the idea of being around too many people as it was. There was no way he was inflicting a lifetime of being gawked at by aquarium goers on this little fellow.

Satisfied, he headed back up to his boat...

...completely unaware of the eyes following him from the ocean floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you all knew I wasn't getting away from the dynamic of this couple for long. This is gonna be fun~  
> It's going to start out more slice of life-ish but will turn action-y very quickly, not quite as dark as my RottenBerry fic but still along the same vein.  
> What do you all think so far?
> 
> Don't forget to comment and leave your suggestions over on my Tumblr! And hit up my Ko-Fi if you want to fuel my caffiene addiction.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> 


	2. CHAPTER TWO: "Repayment"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red discovers someone has been leaving him gifts in exchange for feeding the lobster.  
> He also discovers that his bait might bring in more than just a gluttonous crustacean...

CHAPTER TWO: "Repayment"  
—————————

Red initially thought finding the strangely colored lobster in his trap was good luck, but after about a week, he was starting to reconsider.

If anything, his little buddy was a damn mooch!

The next time Red checked his traps, sure enough, the lobster was back to rob him of his bait. One of the other traps was open and the bait gone, so he was starting to wonder if this lobster had lock-picking skills (it still didn't account for the sliced-up baskets, but he wrote it off as the perps having finally moved along). He took another dip and moved the little guy to another unoccupied hole before returning to his other traps.

The next three times he checked his traps, that cotton candied rascal was back at it again!

Finally, Red decided not to bait the traps for a few days in hopes the little guy would move along and he could start retrieving something besides the same lobster over and over again. It was a lofty idea, but it didn't work, and Red found him freeing the little mooch from each trap in tandem until he finally gave up.

(If lobsters had puppy dog eyes, he was sure the little bastard had been doing just that any time he hauled him up to the surface.)

After two weeks of doing this, he finally just made the lobster a basket of his own that he could crawl out of and started feeding it. Sometimes, it left his other traps alone, and other times, he had to rescue the damn thing yet again.

Tending to his new free range "pet" quickly became part of his new routine, and everything felt normal until the Saturday of the second week. When he pulled up his first trap, he found it again robbed of bait, but this time, something had replaced the bag of herring. As Red hefted the trap into the boat, several somethings clattered out of it and onto the floor of his boat. Upon scooping them up, Red realized that several shiny bottle caps and a handful of loose change - all polished to a perfect shine - had fallen out.

When he pulled up the special lobster's basket, he found a 14mm wrench sticking out of it. It, too, was cleaned and shined.

Now, almost every time he found a trap robbed, he found a "treasure" left in its place.

Most of the times, it was just junk, but junk that had been meticulously cleaned and selected to at least look shiny. He half-expected to find little bows on them one day. With the amount of brass buttons, cuff links, dollar store silverware, nuts, bolts, and screws he was receiving, he began to wonder if a there was a fish version of a magpie paying him for what the lobster took.

However, there were a few days where he went home in awe at his latest gifts:

A clam shell stuffed to the brim with pearls of all various shapes and sizes. A golden wedding ring engraved with a date and loving inscription. _Actual_ silver silverware that looked like someone's family heirloom had been tossed into the water. An enormous fossilized shark tooth, as heavy as a brick and smooth as glass. Finally, an ornately engraved locket, its initials still visible, with the photographs of the two humans inside being older than himself by two lifespans.

Red wasn't sure where his mysterious gifter was finding all of these presents, but he knew it certainly couldn't be the lobster paying for his room and board. He turned the ring and locket into the police station and actually received an emotional thank-you call from the owner of the former (though he really didn't handle the woman's blubbering very well), but the rest he kept, unsure of what to do with them besides lining the mantelpiece with them.

He decided that whoever had been getting into his traps had probably been watching out for the lobster. Why they didn't just seek him out and tell him, "Hey, this little moocher keeps getting caught in your traps, please move them," he didn't know. But none of his woven baskets had been destroyed since, so Red was fine with it.

One day, after nearly a month of this strange barter system, Red wrote a little note and put his information in it, inviting whoever it was that kept leaving him the presents to come and visit him. He stuffed it into a bottle and placed it into one of the traps, leaving that one untouched for several days. 

Finally, during a strangely warm spell in late October, Red found the buoy for his buddy's feeder basket was gone, so he decided to hop overboard and find out why.

It was easy enough to clear away the bit of driftwood that had come through and pinned part of the line to the sand in order to free the buoy, and he found his buddy patiently waiting for his snack. Red watched as the lobster shuffled back into the cage so the skeleton could stuff in the bait bag and chuckled. Never did he think he would consider supper food "cute". 

'At this rate, I outta give him a name,' Red thought. He then turned to regard the other baskets. His eyes immediately honed in on the cage where he had placed his message and saw that, indeed, the bottle was gone. Red swam over to survey the trap, finding himself a little excited at the prospect of having received a reply from his mysterious gifter. Instead of a message, however, he found a mirror that had been broken off from someone's makeup compact.

Red chuckled again and shook his head before reaching in and plucking out the mirror, holding it up to see that it, like all of the other presents, was spotless and pristine.

He mused for a minute, wondering if his latest gift itself might be a message? Flipping it over, he almost expected there to be lipstick writing on it or something etched into the glass, but he saw neither of those things.

What he did see, however, made his SOUL almost stop beating.

He saw the dark figure drifting toward him through the water, not quite realizing what it was at first. Then he caught sight of the fins and the long tail that cut through the water like a whip, realizing how much bigger it was getting as it drew closer. He felt sweat prickle on his bones as it grew, the realization finally hitting him what he was seeing as he turned around to face it:

_A fully grown Thresher shark!_

Red had encountered sharks before, but most of them were curious little ones. Never in his life had he encountered an adult, and while it might have been his panic kicking in, this looked like the granddaddy of all Thresher sharks. It was easily fifteen feet long, and Red would bet his last dime that it was every bit two hundred pounds or more.

He mentally swore.

'I have to get out of here!" 

In hindsight, he probably should have teleported. However, in a panic, he forgot all about even having that ability. He was already drained from work, and successfully teleporting from underwater was a toss up, anyway. Had he remembered, there was a good chance he'd have overcompensated and wound up slamming into a cliff or dropping himself out over the inlet rather than to safety on the boat.

Besides, he didn't get more than a few kicks in before he remembered he wasn't the only one down there.

Dammit, this was probably his fault! Thresher sharks loved herring, and there was a good chance that one was smelling all of the yummy bits he had been bringing the lobster. Sure, most folks would consider their own lives to be more important than something that might have wound up in a shark's belly anyway, but Red's guilt compelled him to go after the little creature he'd gotten uncommonly attached to.

Without a moment to spare, Red shot down through the water, snatching up basket, lobster and all. As he kicked off the ocean floor, his eyelights nearly winked out from panic:

The shark had seen movement and was coming in fast!

Red swore, kicking off and darting upwards, bringing one hand around as his magic flared to life. The act saved him, for the moment the shield of bones sprang into existence, the Thresher shark closed its gaping maw around them. That was all of the luck Red had, however, as the shark's momentum propelled it into him, sending him reeling back toward the shoals. He slammed into them, scrabbling for purchase on the basket he dropped. As he turned to snatch it back to his chest, the shark's powerful tail caught him across the shoulder, crushing him into the stone spire nearby.

Red could feel the very world around him jar as his head collided with the rocks, and he swore he heard a crack coming from his rib cage. He screamed, the lack of air he needed to produce words causing his pain to be projected loudly under the chilly waters. His head swam as he looked up, watching the sunlight dancing across the water break into a thousand brilliant beetles that swam across his vision. His body crumbled as the shark thrashed about, and he fell limply downward, narrowly dodging another swing of its tail.

Weakly, he reached out to grip the basket, watching the great body of the shark writhing above him grown darker and darker until...

'Since when do sharks have pufferfish spines...?'

It was a strange thought to have, to be sure, but the shark above him had suddenly sprouted three (no six? No, wait, that was three, he was just seeing double) long spines from its side, two white and one a brilliant bright blue that almost blended into the ocean waters. Regardless of how many there actually were, it caused the shark to stop struggling as Red's own bone attacks disappeared, leaving its maw agape.

At some point, another figure entered Red's vision, and he vaguely wondered if another shark was coming toward him. Yet, in his hazy mind, the shadowy figure didn't look quite right to be a shark. He thought he saw a tail but there were also arms - arms that opened and swallowed him up in their embrace.

He could vaguely feel himself being lifted and propelled through the water, coming to rest on the rocks of the cliffside shoals. His head, he found, did not feel the rocks, as something kept his upper body straight. Something brushed against the side of his head and he could feel a strange warmth pour through him, tingling and spreading as in seeped deeper and deeper into his head, leaving behind a satisfying chill like having eaten a sprig of mint. He could feel himself being manhandled, albeit gently, his body twisting and turning as something moved down to his ribs. Twice more, he felt that all-encompassing warm as his consciousness faded in and out.

He didn't know how long it took, likely not more than a few moments, but there was a slight tapping against his cheek. 

Slowly, his senses returned, and he suddenly realized exactly what he was looking at:

The starry aquamarine eyelights of another skeleton monster!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions...but at least Red didn't wind up shark food!
> 
> Remember, if you have any suggestions on what you would like to read or here, let me know!
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	3. CHAPTER THREE: "Out of the Blue"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red meets Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a long chapter, but once I got started, I couldn't stop! So here: have a third chapter.

CHAPTER THREE: "Out of the Blue"  
—————————

Another skeleton! What were the odds another monster like himself being the one to leave him trinkets over that silly bait thief of a lobster? As Red's thought processes returned, he understood why his camera never captured the person messing with his traps. Still, why would this monster waste their energy to sneak around underwater like that? Had they spotted his camera? Why on earth...?

His eyes focused in on the snapping finger bones in front of him. Red shook his head, suddenly realizing the other monster was talking to him.

"HELLO IN THERE~!" he sang.

Red was taken aback. He hadn't expected the sheer volume that blasted him. He clapped his hands over the sides of his head. He may not have had ears, but that didn't mean his magic didn't let him hear as well as the next guy!

"Whoa, pal," Red said, his head slightly swimming right the abrupt movement, "where's the fire?"

The other skeleton had the decency to look sheepish. "Oops! I am so sorry!" he said, thankfully at a much quieter (albeit still a bit loud) volume. "You were not answering me, so I was afraid my magic had not healed you properly."

Red waved a hand. "It's alright," he looked over and saw the shark, its lifeless body suspended in the water with the slightest curls of red trickling up from the three sharpened spears that protruded from its side. "Whoa," he looked back at the other skeleton, "you did that?"

The monster threw his head back and laughed proudly. "Mweh heh heh! A mere Thresher shark is no match for a mighty hunter such as the Great and Magnificent Blue! But, oh," Blue looked back toward the shark, scanning his surroundings before turning back to Red, "we should get you back to the Surface. Threshers do not normally hunt in packs, but we do not want to risk it, do we? Here, you hold Shimmer."

Immediately, the basket was pushed into Red's arms, and he could see his little buddy had, indeed, survived the encounter.

'"Shimmer", huh?' Red mused. Well, he certainly glittered in the right light. Red supposed that was an apt name for him.

As Blue rose to help Red stand, Red suddenly became very aware of something his concussed brain had taken in but his senses had forgotten:

"Holy...you have a _tail_!"

Indeed, Blue had a tail, and not just any sort of tail. A long expanse of ectobody, as blue as the ocean water, lined the inside of the monster's ribs, thickening from transparent to a translucent aquamarine just below the ribs, extending down and allowing the barest hint of a pelvic bone to be seen before it disappeared under a hip-hugging sash and a panel of cloth. From his hips protruded fins like spines, and a thin membrane formed finlets along the outside of his ulnas, each with long ectospines slowly withdrawing back into Blue's body. The blue of his tail flared out into wide dorsal fins reminiscent of butterfly wings down to a round fantail. Those fins were comprised of longer strips of fins similar to his hip spines, all connected by a thin, almost clear panel of ecto. If ever Red had wanted to see what a blue lionfish looked like as a merman, it was this guy.

Blue looked around at himself before standing (floating?) proudly with his hands on his hips, with what looked to be either a long bandanna or a short scarf around his neck drifting gently in the current. 

"I do, indeed!" he said, gesturing grandly. "And I am quite proud of it. It may look rather delicate, but I assure you, I am every bit as tough - nay, tougher! - than the shark that I have slain. Come," he said, taking hold of Red's free wrist, "let us make haste!"

For one with such delicate-looking fins, Blue cut through the water like a bolt of lightning. The sheer force behind the powerful strokes of his tail nearly caused Red's arm to dislocate, but before he could so much as even think to protest, his head broke the surface of the water and he found himself just outside of his boat.

Blue took the lobster basket from him and hoisted it into the vessel. "Please, Mister...?"

"Red," the skeleton offered as he pulled himself up into his boat.

"Yes, well, Mr. Red," Blue said, "do you intend to head toward the dock where you usually embark?"

Red raised a brow bone. Just how long had this guy been watching him? Was this behavior normal for merfolk, or was he just lucky and got the one with the stalker tendencies? Red nodded.

Blue beamed. "Then have you a rope or a length of cloth?"

Confused, Red looked around before realizing that the buoy was still attached to Shimmer's feeder basket. He reeled it in and looked at it, then to Blue. "Why...?"

"Why, so that I may deliver you safely to shore, my good sir!" Blue enthused. "Now, if you would reel in your anchor, we can get going."

Blue looked at the line in his hand and decided that he would likely be better off just giving Blue the anchor and chain once he reeled it in. "Yeah, but can you please go a bit slower? I think I left my lunch back there."

Nodding his head with great enthusiasm, Blue reached up for the anchor. Red grabbed hold of the side of his boat, his other hand instantly snapping back to cling just as tightly the moment he relinquished control on the anchor weight. With a word of warning, Blue darted off, and Red found his boat being swiftly guided back to shore - thankfully, at a speed that wasn't so likely to send him careening into the rocks for a second time that day.

Upon reaching the pier, Blue gave back the anchor weight and promised he would return shortly.

Which is how Red spend the next half hour sitting on the dock, looking at the cotton candy lobster he had soaking in a bucket he had taken from his boat, contemplating his life. 

He had almost convinced himself that the whole experience had been a fever dream until he saw a familiar head pop out of the water.

Red stood, clutching the lobster-filled bucket to his chest as Blue waved to him. He could see multiple lines wrapped around Blue like a vest, with the buoys of his other lobster traps dangling over his shoulders and bobbing along the top of the water.

"Hello again, Mister Red!" Blue called to him, hefting something under the water. "You may wish to duck!"

Before Red could react, he watched as Blue raised his arms, sending all fifteen feet of the Thresher shark that had nearly eaten Red up into the air by its tail. A moment later, he spun in an arc, releasing two hundred plus pounds of one of the ocean's deadliest predators skyward. The terror of the deep flipped head over tail multiple times as it headed his way. Red lunged forward, clinging to a post as the shark slammed heavily onto the dock about twenty feet away from him, nearly bouncing him off the dock entirely and causing him to slosh water everywhere. How the shark didn't splatter into a mess of chum, he didn't know.

He turned, eyelights extinguished in shock, in time to watch Blue himself catapult into the air, somersaulting twice before landing in a roll on the end of the pier. As he unfurled himself into a victory pose, Red watched as the spines along his hips, arms, and spine emerged, his fins flaring out until he was bedecked in his full finned glory.

Red's jaw dropped.

"How the hell did you do that?!" he said, gesturing toward the now greatly tenderized shark.

Blue tutted. "Language! I mean you no offense, but you Surface Dwellers do have a tendency to use such coarse vocabulary."

Red's head fell, and he glanced down at the lobster staring up at him, wondering if he was seeing this, too. 

The merman's laughter rang out from the end of the pier as he shuffled himself toward the edge, trailing his tail fins along in the incoming waves. "If you are awaiting an introduction from Shimmer, you will find yourself wanting for quite the long time. I am afraid he cannot use his mouth to do more than gorge himself. May I?"

Red looked between the bucket, the shark, and the clearly insane merskeleton sitting only a few feet from him. Having decided that he shouldn't keep someone waiting - especially someone capable of flinging a freaking shark with the ease of a dog's fetching stick - he staggered over and reached the bucket out toward Blue's outstretched arms. Blue's eyelights brightened.

"Ah, you even gave him some water to be comfortable in! Thank you, my friend."

"Uh, you're welcome," Red told him as Blue sat the bucket down, withdrawing the pastel lobster and regarding it with a scolding look. He wagged a finger bone in its face, admonishing it as though it were a small child.

"Now, you listen to me, little one!" Blue told the lobster. "Look at what your gluttonous streak nearly did! Your mooching habits must end, dear Shimmer, before your belly is so big that you cannot fit into the rocks to hide from predators! You are a very fortunate that I was there and that Red was so kind, or you might not have lived to eat another snack!"

The lobster, unsurprisingly, said nothing.

Blue's annoyed expression quickly morphed into one of fondness and relief, and he cuddled the lobster, nuzzling it against his cheek. Shimmer did not reciprocate the affection but seemed content enough to move around when reintroduced to the bucket.

"I really must thank you, Mister Red."

"It's just 'Red'," Red said. All of this formal talk was making him feel like he was in a different century.

"Yes, well, 'Red'," Blue began, "you have no idea how much I appreciate you. Most Surface Dwellers might have taken Shimmer away. I know the humans especially have a penchant for scooping up anything that seems exotic and out of the ordinary to them, and while I am sure that Shimmer would not have come to any harm with you after seeing you care for him, I truly would have missed him. Though," he now waved a finger at Red, "I know not whether it is because you are a Surface Dweller, but leaving fish parts in an area over and over again just draws in predators. I know Shimmer's little eyes can be difficult to say 'no' to, but really, he eats far more than is healthy for him."

Red noticed the lines were gone from Blue's chest. Blue noticed where he was looking and smiled. 

"Ah, I dropped your traps in your vessel there," Blue said, pointing toward the boat. When had Blue done that? Was the mermonster part ninja? "I am truly sorry about this, but for your safety's sake, I must ask you not to leave your traps over there for a little while. Shimmer is quite the messy eater, and I'm afraid our little encounter today might bring in more sharks."

After seeing a full-grown shark coming up behind him, Red wasn't even sure he'd be able to look in another mirror for a while, let alone go diving in the cove to babysit a pig of a lobster again any time soon. 

"Hey, that's okay," Red told him.

"Oh, but I do not wish for you to go hungry!" Blue told him. "In exchange for being so kind to Shimmer, please, accept the shark. I have tried to repay you for feeding him, but I am afraid I did not know which shiny baubles would be of most use to you."

That was when it occurred to him.

"You're the one who kept cutting my baskets open!"

Blue's face flushed darkly, a deep cobalt staining his cheeks. He pulled himself onto the deck and bowed, bending himself inward until his head nearly touched the deck.

"It is true, and I was coming today with a reply to your message!" Blue cried out. "I am truly ashamed of myself, but I did not know the one whose traps Shimmer kept crawling into! Had I but known you were such a kind soul, I never would have damaged your property thus! I merely wanted to protect Shimmer, and I am truly, deeply sorry. From the bottom of my very SOUL, I-"

"Aww, c'mon, that's enough," Red said, scooping his hands under Blue's armpits and raising him up. Tears gathered at the corner of Blue's eyes, and magic still dusted his cheeks. He sniffled and put his hands together over his head, begging for Red's forgiveness. 

'What is it with this guy?' Red thought. 'It's zero to one hundred with him in the span of a second.'

Exhausted by just watching Blue run through the wheel of emotions, Red clapped him on the shoulder and sighed. "I forgive you, Blue." Instantly, the mermonster let out a delighted squeal and wrapped his arms around Red, squeezing him with an intensity that not only lifted him off the ground, but felt like it might crush the very ribs he had healed.

'That's right,' Red recalled. Not only had Blue prevented him from being shark chow, but he had also healed up his injuries so he didn't get washed out to sea with a concussion. His bony butt had been saved by a literal _mermaid_. Merman. Whatever! The half-fish, half-skeleton had preserved his life and limb for another day, so the least he could do was thank him.

Blue waved him off with a smile. "It was no trouble, really! In fact," he said back up, picking up the bucket and holding it up for Red to see the lobster sticking out over the side, "Shimmer has gotten quite fond of you!"

Red snorted. "Yeah, more like fond of the expensive treats I was giving him, the little thief."

"And I am more than happy to pay for that if you will tell me your preferred method of payment!"

Red just shook his head. "Nah, you saved my hide back there," he said, "or you would have, if I had a hide, that is. Call us even."

"I - oh. Alright, if you insist, but..."

The merskeleton lowered the bucket and his gaze. Red regarded him with suspicion. "What?"

Blue scratched the back of his skull, grinning, and let out a nervous chuckle. "I was wondering if your offer still stood? That I could come visit you?"

Red blinked. Suddenly, he found himself face-to-face with a pouting Blue, whose starry eyelights had grown to nearly fill his sockets, making them almost glimmer with unshed emotion. He clasped his hands together in typical begging fashion and pleaded to Red.

"Please, Red? I've never met a Surface Dweller before! My family warned me that humans might be dangerous, but you are a monster like me! Or, well, perhaps not entirely like me, but you're a monster and a skeleton, and you can actually interact with me underwater without drowning, and you took such good care of Shimmer! Let us be friends!"

Red looked at the offered hand before rubbing his neck nervously.

"Uh, I'm not sure I can do that."

Blue's face immediately fell. 'Geez,' thought Red, 'is there any emotion this guy doesn't wear on his sleeve?' He thumbed toward his house up high on the cliff.

"I meant I'm not sure you'll physically be able to come visit me," he said, "I live up there, and I don't exactly have a pool in my living room. I don't have any problems with you coming up there, but I wouldn't be a good host if I just let you turn into fish jerky, y'know?"

Blue looked thoughtful for a minute. "I...had not considered that." Red clapped him on the shoulder.

"Look, how about I come visit you guys down here? As you pointed out, it's not like I'll drown underwater. Besides," he added, "I don't know anyone who's met a merperson before. You're a first for me, too."

With a promise to meet again, Red gave Blue one of his intact lobster traps to cart Shimmer home in before saying his goodbyes. After Blue promised to meet up with him in a few days, he gave one last farewell wave before hefting the shark over his shoulders and staggering home under its weight.

It looked like his peaceful move was turning out to be anything but...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And now Red's scarred for life. I had intended this chapter to have a bit more snark from Red in it, but instead, I wound up writing him having a bit more shock because Blue just stole the show.
> 
> Come send me suggestions and listen to some podfics and other audios!  
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	4. CHAPTER FOUR:  "A Friendly Discussion"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red's coworkers find out he was almost shark bait, and then he meets back up with Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie: I may have had some real life inspiration for Janey.  
> The humans aren't here for any form of love triangle, mind you. Nope, main focus here is CherryBerry and the action.
> 
> Also, what the heck, people?! This thing's not even been up for two days and already I've got nearly 150 views on it? Man, I think I found my other shippers. You all make me feel so loved. ^-^

CHAPTER FOUR: "A Friendly Discussion"  
——————————

When Red woke up the next day, he was almost sure he had dreamed up the encounter with Blue. Still, the back of his head held the slightest grooves where his skull injury was nearly healed up, and there was a mild tenderness to his formerly cracked ribs that could not otherwise be explained. 

The same went for a whole freezer's worth of shark meat. He had actually run out of room for part of it and, being loathe to throw it out, wound up giving his boss and one of his coworkers a call. Ross and Janey were more than happy to have a few of the fine fillets, and Red was even able to pawn the fins and some of the teeth off on them (no need to waste more than necessary). Janey oohed and ahhed at the smooth baubles and practically tackled Red for material for her latest creative endeavors.

"I didn't know you like shark fishing, Red," Ross had asked him.

"Well, it wasn't intentional," he had countered, trying to right himself after Janey had bowled him over. His coworker's expression soured into an annoyed pout, and for a moment, he watched as the memory of Blue scolding Shimmer flashed over her features. She held him at arm's length and glowered.

"Don't tell me you used yourself as bait..."

Sweat prickled at Red's brow as he tried to shove her off. Of course, with no real intent behind the shove and Janey's renown grip strength, she didn't budge. "Like I said, it wasn't intentional! Will ya' let me go, you crazy dame?"

A hard shake almost made his bones rattle. "Red, I outta strangle you! How many times have we told you to be careful?!"

"Hard to be careful when your coworker's shaking you up like you're a bag of drumsticks and breadcrumbs. Agh, leave off already!"

He was finally saved from becoming Janey's personal set of maracas when Ross gently pried her fingers from his work shirt. Janey whined and looked at him with a heartbroken expression that would likely be gone the moment a customer showed up. 

Now that he thought about it, maybe he hadn't been in shock as much as he thought he had been. Dealing with people who flicked through emotions like they were television stations was the norm for him.

He was brought back to attention by his boss. "Well, I'm glad you had some magic to help you bring that thing down," Ross said, his large blond-and-gray eyebrows knit with deep concern, "but still, be careful diving where you set your traps. It was pretty rare that a Thresher would come in so close this time of year, but there are other dangers down there in the deep. Almost lost Tommy like that when he got his foot too close to an octopus and that thing latched onto a rock."

Red wasn't about to correct his employer over just whose magic had taken down that shark. Blue hadn't asked him to do it, but Red didn't think someone who had obviously never made contact with what he called "Surface Dwellers" before didn't exactly want the paparazzi breathing down his neck. Though, if the way Blue showed off the other day was anything to go by, he might actually enjoy the attention.

At least, until some mad scientists picked him up to study.

Red shivered.

Wasn't that, in a way, what Red wanted to do? Study him? Old habits died hard, and as much as he would rather spend his time relaxing, he was just as prone to losing himself to analyzing something that peaked his interest. Had ever since he was a kid. Still, he didn't want to imagine someone as full of life as Blue was to wind up in an observation tank - or worse. Monsters may have had rights the same as humans, but that didn't stop someone with enough power to do whatever they wanted and not enough of a moral center to care about the consequences for others.

Ross put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Ross patted him on the shoulder before Janey tackled him again, melodramatically wailing about how she didn't want to lose her best skeleton buddy. "Pfft, yeah, right, I'm yer _only_ skeleton buddy."

"All of the more reason for you not to go shark fishing with yourself as the bait anymore!" she beamed. "Besides, if you die, I'd have to work your shifts until Ross hired someone else. Please don't do that to me. I like seeing the sun."

Red laughed at her. "Oh, I get it. You only like me so you don't have to work harder! Now who’s the lazy one here?"

His discomfort at the other butchers' concern quickly devolved into mirth as the two fell into playful jostling and their usual banter. As Red worked away at preparing some prime cuts for the case, he shook his head. He had spent so long with his nose to the books in order to stop having to do all of the manual labor that made up the majority of the jobs he worked to put himself through school and help take care of his brother. After having to deal with all of the hazards (and horrors) of where his studies landed him, he was surprised at just how peaceful and enjoyable being a butcher, of all things, was in comparison. 

There were so many levels of irony there that he didn't know where to start.

They weren't thoughts he liked to linger on, anyway. 

Instead, he turned his thoughts to that evening and wondered if Blue really would appear again.

He shouldn't have worried, really. As the sun began to paint the sky in its descent, the merskeleton made his reappearance. Red had been anxiously waiting to see if Blue would show up at sunset as he had promised, so, to pass the time and wring out a bit of his nervous energy, he had begun trying to skip rocks across the water. 

He had not expected his rocks to skip _back_.

At first it was one. Then another. One by one, each of the smooth stones he had found along the shore came bouncing back to him, smacking wetly into the surf-saturated sand. They stopped for a brief moment, and Red looked out over the water just in time to see a barrage of a hundred more pebbles fling themselves out of the water, raining down around him like a volley of arrows on some medieval battlefield. Red ducked and covered his head but, thankfully, the rocks sailed far over him, cluttering uselessly to the sand farther up the beach.

"What the...?"

He wasn't surprised in the slightest to see a cheeky grin pop out of the water.

"Mweh heh heh! The Great and Magnificent Blue can play your surface games, as well!"

"You trying to kill me?" Red snarled at him as the mermonster flipped out of the water and landed onto the beach. Blue grinned at him as he put Shimmer down to let him play in the sand.

"Of course not, Red! I would never endanger a friend!"

Right. Friends. He was friends with this guy now, wasn't he? With this hyperactive, insanely strong, utterly clueless about his own strength ball of energy.

This had "safety hazard" written all over it.

Still, in for a penny, in for a pound. Red grabbed the driftwood bench and dragged it close enough to where Blue could sit where the waves could keep his tail and fins wet. Speaking of fins...

"Hey, where's yer fins?"

Blue looked up at him as he raised himself up on his elbows. "Hmm?"

"You had spiny things," Red gestured from his back to his hip, "last time. Where'd they go?"

This seemed to spark something in Blue. "Oh!" he sat up, turning his tail in the water so that he could show of the whole of his corpus to the other skeleton. The spines along his vertebra and arms were gone, and the sharp fins and delicate membranes alone his hips and ulnas had disappeared. All that remained were the transparent panels of his tail fins coming from his ectobody.

"My fins may be as magnificent as the rest of me, but I do not need them all of the time," Blue said, "and my spines are for protection. Those do not come out unless I feel threatened - unless I want them to!"

Red mused for a minute. "So it's like how humans and some monsters flex their muscles? That sort of reflex?"

"Precisely!" Blue said, rolling over and letting the surf break over his tail. "The extra fins may help in the water, but they are not very useful on land. I must spend magic in order to create them and keep them moisturized while above the water, and it can be a terrible nuisance to maintain the proper amount of that. Yet, the other option is dried fins, and having those crack can be exceedingly painful, I assure you!"

Red raised a brow bone. "'Moisturized'? Like, what, you produce mucus? You part frog or something?"

Blue huffed, his hands flying to his hips. "I am a mermonster, thank you very much! I am no frog!" 

The other skeleton raised his hands in supplication, his eyes widening. "Okay, okay, I wasn't trying to offend you!" Red gulped as he realized just how easily Blue could yeet him out into the water as he did with that shark the day before. "Just trying to figure some stuff out. I know some fish do that, but-"

Blue threw his head back in a laugh.

"It is quite alright, Red!" he said, slapping his tail fins against the incoming water. "I suppose I am more amphibious than fish at any rate. Or, well, at least we merskeletons are. Really, since we do not need to breathe air and, therefore, do not have gills, I am not quite sure what you would say we are. Just sea monsters, I suppose."

And thus, their discussion went. Blue was incredibly curious about life on land, but he was also a good listener, even if it was obvious he was about to burst with unanswered questions until Red took pity on him. Red found himself eventually moving from the log to the sand himself to get on Blue's level, while Blue laid on his stomach, his head propped up in his hands as he watched Red feed bits of shark meat to Shimmer. Eventually, it began to get dark, and the constant stare of Blue's eyelights became more pronounced as the light began to die.

Red shifted nervously. It made him feel uncomfortable but not in a way that he felt Blue might attack him. He just wasn't used to having someone stare up at him so intently, at least with admiration. Some of his coworkers at his former job had done that once they realized what he could do, but that was all bittersweet now. He remembered his little brother when they were children staring up at him with those wide sockets, eyelights red and blazing with admiration, but even that now, too, made his SOUL ache.

Blue tilted his head. "Are you well, Red? You seem troubled."

Red let out a hollow bark of a laugh. "I'm just tired." He actually was, but that didn't mean he needed to broadcast any little change in his feelings the way Blue did. Whether it was because Blue was so innately tuned to his own emotions that he could read others or some sort of sixth sense sea monsters had, Red didn't know, but he pressed the matter.

Smiling, he said softly (or, well, softly for him), "You can tell me. We are friends, are we not? Friends share their troubles with one another. Does keeping that a secret trouble you?"

Red had told him that he had taken some of the shark meat to his human friends, but didn't say where he got it. Red shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine," Red said, "I know a thing or two about lying low, so it's not a big deal for me to keep a secret."

Blue seemed intrigued by this but Red halted his next line of questions by pressing Shimmer back into his hands and standing.

"I need to get going," Red told him, looking out over the darkening waters, trying to ignore the starry eyelights focused on him but quickly failing. Their luminescence made them hard to ignore in the first place, but the calming magic radiating from them was far too soothing to turn away from. Blue, himself, was a paradox in that way - a hectic ball of energy, as frantic as an atomic reaction, and yet clearly his magic indicated Patience as his predominant SOUL trait.

"Have I upset you?" Blue asked.

"What? No!" Red told him, a little surprised at the force in his own voice as he regarded Blue. "Just I've gotta get up early tomorrow. You might be able to hunt for your food, but I've got to buy most of mine."

Blue brightened. "If that is all, I could bring you some money that the humans use! Then you could buy your food and stay and talk to me. Or I could bring you food myself. Do you like squid? My brother loves squid."

Red waved him off, a genuine smile sneaking its way onto his face. "Nah, I'm good on food. Got enough shark to last me at least a month. But I've got bills to pay, and Janey would kill me if she had to work my shift because I played hooky just to gab."

The mermonster's grin fell and his shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh."

"How 'bout I come back here tomorrow? We can talk more then."

Blue's eyes lit up, making his stars surpass even the brightest twinkle of the ones beginning to gather in the sky overhead.

And so began Red's friendship with Blue...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments keep me sane at work, so thank you for all your support!
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	5. CHAPTER FIVE: "Home Sweet Home"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red has a day off, and agrees to go on an adventure with Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My team won the Super Bowl! Yah!  
> I also survived everyone getting ready for the Super Bowl this week. If I do any more running about, my legs are gonna look like Chun-Li's.

CHAPTER FIVE: "Home Sweet Home"  
——————————

It was strange how well they fell in tandem together. 

Red never considered himself the most sociable person, and he was certainly far from outgoing. However, he seemed to have a knack for being yanked from his solitude by those that were, and Blue was merely the nth extrovert in his life to "adopt" him, so to speak. The merskeleton's bountiful energy and endless questions should have worn him out, but instead, Red found himself looking forward to their meet ups.

If Blue had his way, they probably would have met up every time Red left the house. However, because Red actually had a job and needed rest - which Blue didn't seem to need (seriously, Red wondered if he was hiding a coffee intravenous drip somewhere) - he convinced his newfound companion to visit him a couple of days a week. Of course, some of the times Red went to the beach, he wound up running across Blue anyway.

Although, Blue still had a lot to learn about sea monster - surface monster interactions.

Taking Blue's advice, Red had decided to move his lobster traps. After a couple of weeks, he began dropping them in another little dip inland opposite from his old fishing spot. He took them out and watched as one of the cages slid easily beneath the water, drifting slowly downward and out of site until only the buoy remained to mark where the trap was. As Red turned to the other side of the boat to deposit another trap, he heard something in the water behind him. When he looked back, he saw that the buoy had disappeared.

That was strange. Red had been under those waters and knew they weren't much deeper than his old cove. Puzzled, he looked over the side of the boat to see if the buoy had maybe slid under his vessel.

Then, he heard the _plick!_ of something dipping below the water behind him. He looked back and frowned deeply.

Now the other buoy was gone!

"Hey, what gives?" Red shouted, leaning out over the edge to search the water for what might have happened to the bobbing marker.

An instant later, the quiet din of the breaking waves in the distance was broken by his own shout as a pale blur shot up from the water, lunging into the boat after him as two bony arms wrapped around his neck.

The deluge of maniacal laughter that followed was quickly silenced by Red's cry of alarm as Blue didn't quite make it into the boat with him and slipped back into the sea. Red, in his panic, tried desperately to grab onto an oar for protection, but only registered the laughter as he was yanked over the side and into the frigid waters.

"Good morning, Friend Red!" Blue said, his voice still loud even beneath the waters. Red growled and struggled against his grasp, which had gratefully moved to clasp his shoulders after a brief nuzzle to his cheek. He swore the overexcitable sea monster was more of a dog than a lionfish. Or dogfish? No, wait, maybe more like an octopus...

"What are you doing, you crazy numbskull? You almost capsized my boat!"

"Oops!" Blue said, finally relinquishing his hold on Red to tuck his hands behind his back. He let out an embarrassed chuckle before falling to the side, doing a weird little side-somersault in the water. He then practically shoved Red into the boat when he saw the other skeleton was trying to climb into it, which led to Red nearly flipping over the other side. 

"I do apologize," Blue announced as Red righted himself, a hand over his quickly beating SOUL from the near double heart attack Blue gave him. "I was just happy to see you! Will you be dropping by the beach this evening after your job?"

Red shook his head. "Nah, don't hafta go in today. Monday's my day off."

He immediately regretted saying that the moment Blue nearly turned his boat over as he vaulted up onto the side, his starry eyelights brimming with magic. "That means we have all day to converse!"

By the Angel, why had he said that? Red just _had_ to open his big mouth, didn't he? He had come out on the water with only the intention to set a few lobster traps and then go home and...

'And then what?' the skeleton mused. He realized he really didn't have any plans for that day beyond a nap and watching some television or perhaps reading a book. And, honestly, he didn't really feel like rereading any of his old favorites today while game shows droned on in the background, so why not hang out with Blue?

"Heh, alright," Red said as he tidied up the boat, "that sounds good to me. What's on your mind?"

Blue's fists shot up into the air triumphantly, causing the boat to rock without his weight clinging to the side any longer, and the mermonster fell back into the water with a victorious grin. He disappeared for a moment, darting about under the surface before breaching, flipping like a dolphin and cheering. After a moment of Blue...well, being _Blue _, he returned to the side of the boat.__

__"Would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me on a little excursion?"_ _

__

__And that was how Red wound up tethered to Blue as the merskeleton led him out into the briny deep._ _

__Even though Red had retrieved a wetsuit and flippers from his house, Blue had insisted upon the line he was towing him by. Red had been reluctant to bind himself to Blue after the other nearly broke the sound barrier while dragging him along just after they met, but Blue had been insistent. He had seen how much slower Surface Dwellers moved than merfolk, and he did not want his new friend to be swept away by a dangerous current, nor did Blue want to risk Red encountering another shark when Blue could easily outpace most any sea creature._ _

__(At least, that's what Blue claimed, anyway. Given his strength and what he did to that Thresher, Red did not doubt him. Much.)_ _

__Blue, thankfully, was easily convinced to go at a pace that was far less likely to give his companion whiplash. Red still had to warn him at times because Blue had a tendency to speed up when he got excited. He had learned the merskeleton's dialect was half entirely physical, and Red was thankful for the added length of the tow line for every time Blue did one of his delighted flips or gesticulated wildly with his arms whilst telling some grand story._ _

__And, to be frank, he wasn't sure he could have been able to keep up with Blue otherwise, let alone figure out where they were going. Once they got out to a certain point, there was nothing to differentiate any other part of the Epipelagic Zone from another, with all directions seeming to lead into an endless void of blue, blue, and more blue. He would be lying if he said it didn't make him a little nervous to know that if anything were to separate him and his guide then Red might not be able to make his way back home._ _

__He was thankful that he could easily converse with Blue underwater (not needing the ability to breathe came in handy for things like that). It was a long-time tell of his that any time he was nervous, he would start to babble. If he didn't have something in his hands to contain the itch to fight back against a problem, then his mouth would run. Puns, knock knock jokes, and dark-humored quips often spilled from his lips like a comedian at the mic, and he'd gotten good enough at it over the years to just let himself fall into the rhythm of popping out one-liner after one-liner until he was so invested in the reactions of others around him that his own tension was lessened. It was why he could talk his way out of most situations - everything had just become smoother with a little humor and a hell of a lot of practice._ _

__Blue, however, didn't seem to mind his blabbering in the least. If anything, it seemed he found even the simplest stories intriguing and often had a similar story to sympathize over, so even Red's blathering soon felt like less of a cover and more natural._ _

__Still, he wished he at least knew _what_ Blue wanted to show him._ _

__"How much longer until we get there?"_ _

__Blue looked back at him, never stopping in his steady stride forward. "Not much more! There is a break where the ocean floor descends soon."_ _

__"Why are we traveling in open water anyway? Isn't this where the big predators hang out?"_ _

__"Yes," Blue said, "but we would actually be more likely to come across trouble along the shoals right now. There are other Surface Dwellers who drop their traps over the areas we have passed, and, of course, that attracts larger fish, which in turn attract even larger fish and so on."_ _

__True to Blue's word, they started to make their descent, and the endless sea soon revealed sand and stone once more. Blue's speed slowed as they came abreast of the ocean floor, his tail stirring up lines in the sand as he skated along. Red watched as tiny minnows darted past his vision, swiftly fleeing as two unhappy flounders had their positions given away._ _

__Soon, the sand became all rock, and the shelf itself swiftly plummeted downward in a sharp cliff. His guide happily zigzagged downward, calling back to Red so that he could avoid sharper stones jutting out abruptly._ _

__Down, down, down they plunged, until-_ _

__"Whoa..."_ _

__Vibrant green seagrass suddenly appeared, blanketing the bottom of the sea in what looked to be well-manicured lawn. Here and there, tall strands of kelp stretched heavenward, with branching ocean plants, corals, and sponges of various sizes appearing in decorative clusters. Rock formations with colorful anemones covering them also appeared with tiny fish flitting like butterflies in and around them._ _

__Then, suddenly, he was upon it:_ _

__A shipwreck._ _

__The vessel was clearly from a distant era, its bulk and remaining masts covered in enough sea moss to make it seem more of stone than wood. A neat trail of sand stretched out from the shoals it had come to rest on, stretching out into what almost looked like a zen garden due to large smooth boulders encircled by swirls in the pale grit. As he drew closer, Red realized that a hammock fashioned from a fishing net hung from the bowsprit of the overturned ship, and the figurehead - a carved figure of a human woman wearing a helmet and holding out a lantern on a chain - now rested in the center of an anemone and coral "flower" garden. More anemones lined the shoals surrounding the ship, with a few collecting here and there along its walls. Finally, his eyes focused upon a door and windows, all clearly added long after the ship had sunk, on the side of the hull._ _

__Blue finally coasted to a stop and spun around in a flourish._ _

__"Ta-da~!"_ _

__"What is this place?" Red asked in wonder as he spied several colorful fish curiously darting in and out of the nearby tentacle clusters._ _

__Blue beamed. "Since you said it might be more difficult for me to visit your home, I thought I would show you mine," he said, taking a bow. "Welcome to my humble domicile! I do hope you will enjoy your stay."_ _

__Red could hardly believe what he was seeing. "This is your home?"_ _

__Blue nodded. "Indeed! My brother and I came upon it years ago when we were once separated from our school. What began as a playhouse late became our own humble abode. I, of course," he gestured proudly to himself, grinning smugly, "have made many renovations to it so that it is a far superior dwelling than before it came into my grasp. My brother can vouch for me! Oh!"_ _

__Blue turned flitted his tail, spurring himself off toward the door. He shooed away some of the anemones' tentacles that were drifting into his path before he wrenched open the door and called inside._ _

__"Brother! Brother, we have a guest!" Blue called into the darkened ship. He poked his head inside before disappearing into the hull completely. "Brother? Are you here?"_ _

__Red was still too in awe of the fact that Blue and his family had turned an actual shipwreck into a home to follow Blue inside right away. Instead, he stood looking over the whole work of art made from a beautiful destruction, marveling at just how much the underwater scene resembled the home and property of any other old house out in the country. It was during his perusal that his eyes noticed slight movement coming from the net dangling from the bowsprit. Seeing that he still had plenty of slack in his tow line, Red kicked off the sand and swam closer to inspect it._ _

__As he got close, he realized that there was something large resting in the net. Instead of kelp or sea moss as he first suspected, the long tassels that dangled out into the water were actually fins. Upon further inspection, Red discovered there was actually another mermonster snoozing peacefully in the hammock. This one had the typical coloring of a lionfish, albeit with a more vibrant, brighter orange. The fins, however, were not like the spinier version that Blue could summon, but were long and soft, drifting freely in the slight current as their owner dozed away. In addition, the new sea monster did not have a fantail but one that ended in ruffled cascades like that of a jellyfish. Around the sea monster's shoulders floated a thin honey-colored membrane that looked similar to its tailfin, leaving the monster cloaked in what looked like a translucent poncho._ _

__Judging from the visible bones, Red concluded this must be Blue's brother._ _

__He tugged hard on the line - their code to get Blue to slow down and pay attention during their trip. His guide poked his head out the the house. "Red? Are you well? What happened?" Red pointed over at the sea monster in the hammock._ _

__"I think I found yer bro," he said. Blue swam over and tutted, his hands flying to his hips as he shook his head. He let out a sigh._ _

__"You did, indeed," Blue told him. He reached over, plucking away a colorful nudibranch that was traveling across the merskeleton's face and putting it back onto the sand before shaking slumbering merskeleton. "Brother! Brother, wake up!"_ _

__The sleeping monster let out a snort before two bony eyelids shifted open, revealing a pair of sleepy eyes as he slowly smiled. "Hey, Bro," the monster rose upward, yawning and stretching his long skeletal limbs. "'Sup?"_ _

__Blue seethed with frustration, causing a sound like a whistling tea kettle to spill out of him. "Brother, you knew we might be having company today! Please tell me that you at least cleaned the ship?"_ _

__The sleepy merskeleton regarded Blue strangely before shrugging, "I mean, if you insist. 'That you at least cleaned the ship'."_ _

__Blue made another strained noise before attempting to yank the net out from under his brother. The merskeleton simply floated upward, drifting lazily back to the ocean floor with the merest flutter of his fins. He finally noticed Red and gave him a little wave. "Hey. I'm Stretch, Blue's bro."_ _

__"Red. Likewise," Red said, offering his hand. Stretch accepted it and gave a couple of the limpest pumps Red had ever received in a handshake before pulling his hand back and stuffing it into a pouch (pocket?) on his membrane poncho. He gave Red a once over, one eye squinted, and titled his head._ _

__"Bro? I thought you said he was a Surface Dweller," Stretch asked. "He looks like a sea monster to me."_ _

__Red pulled at his clothing. "This? This thing's a wetsuit," he told Stretch, then gestured down to his feet, "and the flippers are removable."_ _

__Stretch lolled his head slightly to the other side. "Any suit's a wetsuit when you're underwater."_ _

__Red couldn't help but snicker at that, though he did wonder how Stretch knew what a normal suit was when he didn't seem to recognize a wetsuit. Blue playfully swatted at his brother, who managed to dodge him by swaying around like a seahorse clinging to kelp._ _

__"Enough of that! Come and help me tidy up!" he said. He glanced at Red before untying the tow line and grabbing Red, hefting him up and depositing him in the hammock. "Just wait here, Friend Red! We shall be finished momentarily!"_ _

__With that, Blue grabbed Stretch's wrist and darted away, with Stretch giving a lazy wave goodbye to Red before he disappeared around the side of the ship -_ _

__-Leaving Red alone, confused, and slightly perturbed that he had been manhandled so easily._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day! Your feedback keeps the blues away!  
> Come take a listen to an audio, okay...?
> 
> ...Alright, I'll stop rhyming now. You people are the best XD
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	6. CHAPTER SIX: "The Mural of Broken Glass"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red gets to see Blue's home and a new side to his happy-go-lucky friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all nearly added another hundred views to this thing after my just posting the last chapter, and so many of you commented. I am overwhelmed. You folks really make a writer feel loved, you know that? I'mma shed a tear thanks to you guys and gals.

CHAPTER SIX: "The Mural of Broken Glass"  
——————————

At first, Red just...sat there, in the net-hammock, not sure exactly what to do. He swung his legs over the side and let them dangle, his flippers scraping the gritty sand beneath him as he gently swayed in the water.

For all of about ten seconds.

_BOOM!_

What sounded like an explosion erupted from the wreck, rocking the ship and causing bubbles to fly up from around it. Instantly, Red scrambled out of the hammock, surging forward to see what was going on.

"What the hell...?"

Through the windows, Red could see blue magic fly and flash as if a monochrome disco ball had malfunctioned. As other lights flared on in the background, Red could see and assortment of items fly through the air, as well as a familiar aquamarine blur zipping back and forth, a veritable pinball with fins as a similar orange blur trailed behind him. He could hear shouting, and though he could not tell all of what was being said, it was clear from the voice that it was all coming from Blue. 

Then, the magic stopped and the door flew open, slamming hard enough into the hull of the ship to leave a dent in the wood. Instantly, various objects began to fly outside, all propelled by magic. Red took cover behind a large rock as several rugs, four barrels, a coffee table, a stone bench, several woven baskets, Stretch, and a balled-up sock came flying outside. The blue blur passed through the now significantly more illuminated ship several times before darting outside to retrieve everything.

Well, almost everything.

Blue plucked Shimmer out of Stretch's arms, leaving the other merskeleton to lay on the sand. "And for goodness' sake, Brother, please, do something about that sock! Why do you even have that anyway? It isn't as if you have feet."

"No, but it does make for a good prop sometimes," Stretch replied, tugging the sock onto his hand and using it for a puppet. "Isn't that right, Socky? See, Bro? Shimmer likes it."

Stretch pecked the sock forward, making kissy noises toward the lobster, which Blue immediately yanked out of the way as a thoroughly scandalized look crossed his face. "Brother, don't you dare get that filthy thing anywhere near poor Shimmer! He will catch some horrible disease! Have you even washed that thing since you found it?"

Stretch fell silent for a moment, and then, still laying on the ground, shrugged. The outrageously horrified expression Blue made when Stretch brought the sock puppet down to his face to take a sniff made Red cap his hand over his face and desperately try to hold back laughter.

Watching Stretch go from completely unconcerned at being chucked out of his home to almost tearing his own arm off as he attempted to rid himself of the sock, writhing around and making hideous gagging noises while Blue swam back away from him, clutching an oblivious lobster to his chest was nearly too much for him.

But having Stretch then stop flailing about and grin wickedly, holding the sock out waving it teasingly toward his brother, one hand stuffed back in his poncho fin pocket, and say, "Nah, I'm just teasing. It's fine. Want a whiff?" before slowly drifting toward Blue as he darted to and fro out of the way, shouting and admonishing Stretch for his horrible hygiene habits?

Red slid off the rock he was holding onto, his other arm slung around and holding his ribs as deep belly laughter rolled out of him. He couldn't stop the guffaws he belted out, which only grew worse any time he glanced up at the duo. He felt magic prick at his eyes as tears formed, and he finally gave up the fight against his shaky legs and let gravity take him to the ocean floor.

It was only after about three minutes when his entire skeletal torso was feeling the after effects of all that hearty laughter that he realized his hosts were staring at him.

He held it together for a whole ten seconds before recalling how Blue's properly enunciated baritone had turned into a fit of squeaks not unlike an accosted dolphin, and he nearly ate sand when he collapsed into a second fit of laughter.

He heard Stretch let out an amused chuckle before hearing the sound of bone hitting bone. Red raised his head to see Blue muttering into his palm while Stretch smiled at Red. He threw out a hand, trying to choke down his chuckles the best he could.

"Sorry, Blue! Heh," Red told him, sitting up and wiping tears from his eyes, "just you all remind me of my bro and me when we were kids. It's too good."

The annoyance slowly drained from Blue's face, though it didn't leave completely. Petting Shimmer on the head, Blue swam over to Red and helped pull him to his feet. Red could see the dark stain of a cobalt blush painting Blue's cheeks. "I am terribly sorry! I should have had the ship in order before I came to fetch you rather than leaving it all to my brother. I have been lax in my duties as a host. Truly, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my SOUL that you had to witness this."

Red patted him on the shoulder, flashing him a half-grin of his own. "Don't be, Blue, it's fine. Like I said, my brother and I used to do the same thing. Except I was kinda like your brother here in that I wasn't nearly so organized." He spared Stretch a wink, eliciting a pleasantly surprised smile from Stretch and a sigh from Blue. Blue took him gently by the wrist and shook his head.

"Well, I do hope your hygiene habits are better now! Now, come with me."

As Blue swam toward the ship, Red glanced at Stretch. The merskeleton gave a pleased nod as Red drifted by.

'Heh, guess I have the bro's approval,' Red thought.

All thoughts died in his mind as he entered the ship. 

Even though the place was obviously once a ship, the interior looked actually very homey. Unlike the outside that was covered in algae, the inside was wiped clean, leaving behind only weatherworn wood. On the floor lay the longest of the rugs - a large mat woven from some sort of heavy fiber. The furniture was simple, consisting mostly of everything that had been thrown outside, though now a throw blanket had been added to the stone bench. There was also a group of boulders pushed together along one wall to resemble a couch, with a couple of small kelp plants growing in pots on each side of it. On the coffee table at one end of the room was the lobster trap he gave Blue and a metal pet food bowl, with a couple of other basket traps tucked away beneath it. On the opposite side of the room was a dining table made from what looked to be an old ship's wheel with the handles cut off and had some glass inlaid on the top, and several chairs fashioned from hewn out barrels surrounded it. Overhead, attached to a fishing net affixed to the ceiling, were several cage lanterns, all lit with orange light (likely Stretch's magic). If he glanced over, he could see another room in the back with a long table in the middle and cabinets lining the walls. Judging from the cutting boards and the knife block, Red assumed that constituted as a kitchen.

What amazed him most, though, was the enormous collage of glass bottle pieces, all in various sizes and colors, most with tiny blue or yellow lights bobbing around in them.

Red approached the collage.

"You like it?" Blue piped up from beside him.

"Did you make this?" Red asked, his finger tracing the outside of a bit of red glass. He couldn't believe how someone could take trash and turn it into something as beautiful as that. As he took in the whole masterpiece, he realized that the glass parts had been artfully arranged into swirls to mimic the lines the currents drew on the sand.

Blue nodded. "I cannot take all of the credit as it was a joint effort," he admitted. "Much of the glass here was given to me by members of our old school. Whenever they visit, they bring another piece, and we add it to this mural. Whenever the plankton and fish that like to hide in there light up, it is as if they are literally sparking a dear memory for me once more."

Red probably should not have been surprised that someone as emotional as Blue put such effort into a sentimental work. Then again, his intensity probably helped him arrange it together so beautifully, what with creative types and their ties to their emotional depth and all. At least, that's what he'd read. His family was comprised strictly of science types and athletes, so he had to go on someone else's word for that one.

"Hard to believe someone could take garbage and turn it into something like this," Red told him. 

Blue's smile softened. "Just because a thing is no longer fit for one purpose does not mean that it has lost all its value," he said as he looked up at the collage. "Even something broken can still be a treasure to the right person."

Red chuckled and shook his head. Who knew the Hercules with a fish tail was a poet?

"So tell me," Red said, pointing out the rounded bottom of a green beer bottle, "what does that one mean?"

"Ah, that one!" Blue chimed. "A friend of mine thought it reminded her of a shield. See the way the raised bits create such detail? She brought it here the day she found a metal lid from what you Surface Dwellers use as a waste receptacle. Those are fantastic fun to play catch with! We had such a grand time until she threw it so hard it lodged into the cliff. At least she was able to cut off the statue from the front of the ship before then. It has made a wonderful addition to our garden!"

Red gulped. There were more insanely strong merpeople like Blue? Now he was starting to wonder if the human sailors of old had made up the enormous stature of sea monsters to pad their pride at having their ships taken down by someone of Blue's size.

"And this one?" Red indicated a little red heart that looked more like hard plastic than glass.

"That one is from the adopted children of another friend," Blue told him, "who are what I have heard humans refer to as merfolk rather than sea monsters. They do not have magic like the rest of us and one of them does not like to speak much, but they have the most lovely siren's songs you have ever heard! That one was given to us the day they stunned and caught an eel nearly as long as either of them!"

And so, Blue continued to unravel the tale of the glass mural, with Stretch joining in at one point to throw in parts that Blue had forgotten. Through his highly gesticulated stories, Red learned that the brothers had grown up in a school of other sea monsters who lived farther south. Most of their group had left the colder waters of their area due to acquiring two humanoid merchildren, neither of whom at the time were capable of tolerating the frigid waters of the area in winter. They also still had one living parent, but he was uncharacteristically nomadic, so they often didn't see him for long stretches of time whenever he got the notion to disappear into the vast void of the deeper ocean.

"When it gets warmer, my old school will return to stay in the area for a few months," Blue told Red. "When they do, you simply must meet them! I know the children especially would like you. Chara is quite the dark-humored soul and would take up with you in an instant, I am sure of it. Am I right, Brother?"

Red looked over to the stone bench and saw Stretch draped across it, throw blanket tossed haphazardly over himself, and the same nudibranch from earlier crawling up the side of his face. The merskeleton was out cold.

Blue sighed and rubbed the hand that wasn't holding Shimmer over his face. "Please excuse him," he told Red, "my brother may be quite lazy, but he is not normally so bad. We actually celebrated with our old school last night before they departed for warmer waters and Stretch stayed up far too late for his own good." Red noticed that Blue was actually trying to keep his voice down to a halfway decent decibel.

Red just shrugged. "That's alright. We all need days to rest." He looked back as the skeleton let out a half-snore, half-snort as the sea slug crossed his nose and tried to peek into his open mouth. 

"Yes, well, he spends far too many days doing just that," Blue said with a huff. Red raised a brow ridge.

"But it's not like you guys have jobs or anything he's missing out on, right?" 

Blue fell silent for a moment. "No, not in the way you have described yours. Schools often have various tasks and positions assigned to their members, however," he floated over to the doorway and looked out over the yard of seagrass, "I must admit, I am quite torn."

"Why is that?"

The merskeleton sighed and gestured for Red to follow him outside. Red did so and Blue quietly pulled the door to behind him. "My brother and I are some of the...more 'open-minded' of sea monsters," Blue told him. "It is said that many years ago, Surface Dwellers both coveted and feared our kind. For example, there are dark tales about how humans believed consuming our flesh would make them immortal. Really! Can you believe such a terrible thing? They even believed that we lured sailors to their deaths by singing to them!"

Blue shook his head.

"Even without the old tales, there are too many accounts of how Surface Dwellers have overfished parts of the ocean and have dirtied our waters with their garbage. Not long ago, they began to use machines that enabled them to dive into deeper waters and explore areas that would be normally treacherous for anyone not born in the ocean. Most merfolk and sea monsters prefer to keep away from them, but every day, Surface Dwellers grow closer to finding us. Would it not be better then to make friends, to reveal ourselves to the world now so they learn we are no potential foe? I know there are those that can be cruel, but this world belongs to all of us." Blue said, looking up at the brighter waters far above them. "How I would love to explore the land from which you hail..."

Red didn't have an easy answer for all of that, but, in the very least, he could try to help the latter part of Blue's dream become a reality. He clapped a hand on the merskeleton's shoulder and grinned.

"Well, then! We'll just have to find a way to have an adventure without you drying out, now, won't we?"

Blue positively beamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the newest chapter! 
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	7. CHAPTER SEVEN: "'It's Not a Crush!'"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red tries to figure out how to help Blue achieve his dream and ends up tormented by his coworker over a "misunderstanding".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any spelling mistakes! I just really wanted to have this out before work!

CHAPTER SEVEN: "'It's Not a Crush!'"  
—————————

After visiting Blue's home underwater, Red began thinking of ways to help Blue get a glimpse of the land. 

Finding a way to transport him was easy enough. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that all Blue needed was just enough water around him to keep his ectoflesh saturated. Without gills, Red didn't have to worry about clogging up anything that would help his finned friend breathe. His idea would keep Blue fairly incognito while still at least giving him a glance at the world around him.

He just wasn't quite sure what he wanted to show Blue.

So, he did what anyone would do and asked the locals.

The next day he was at work, he brought up the subject.

"You guys got any idea what there is to do around here?"

Ross looked up from his inventory sheets. "You could always go with Janey down to the docks and see what Mike's crew has available. We're running low on polluck, and we could use something for the Sunday Special."

Red shook his head, "I didn't mean for the store, Ross," he corrected himself, "I meant around town. This area. Like, what is there to do? To see?"

His boss raised a bushy brow and Janey looked up from the sausages she was grinding. "Are you actually planning to get out and be sociable for once?" his coworker asked in mock horror. She then turned to Ross and said, "Check his temperature, Boss, I think he's got a fever. Wait, can skeletons get fevers?"

Red rolled his eyelights. "Har har, very funny. But I'm serious."

"Hi, Serious, I'm Dad," Ross said quietly before realizing what he said, smacking his forehead as his two employees burst into laughter. He waved his clipboard around, gesturing between the two of them. "Hey, hey! Between you two and the two I have at home, I feel like I'm stuck in a joke war half the time. It's just instinct."

Red snorted and Janey grinned wickedly. "Aww, Red, you hear that? Ross has claimed us as his kids! Hey, Dad, can I have a pony?"

Trying not to laugh himself, Red joined in, his own smug grin sharklike in comparison to Janey's own. "Yeah, 'Dad', can I have a pony, too?"

Now it was Ross' turn to roll his eyes. "I'll get you some seahorse candies if you two will get back to work," he said, causing Janey to let out a whoop as she pumped both fists into the air, yelling about him being the best father ever. Ross just shook his head. "I'm never going to live that one down, am I?"

"Heh, nope," Red said, popping the "P" hard like an oversized bubblegum bubble.

"How do you even do that?" Janey asked. "You don't have lips."

Red waggled his vinyl glove-covered finger bones at her. "Magic."

Janey huffed. He knew she expected a longer, more in-depth answer. Technically, Red supposed he could have given her one, at least partially, but it was more fun to let her figure it out on her own. Whenever she learned something new, she came in the next day, hyped up and spotting her latest trivia like she had discovered the Holy Grail. It reminded him of the interns in his former life and the discussions he could have with them, watching them get heated from their desire for knowledge and how their eyes lit up as the pieces of whatever mental puzzle they were working on slowly slid into place. He had become a master at taking bits of information that someone else threw out and pushing it back to them in a roundabout way, adding only the least bit necessary to help glue together their vague theory in order to help them see they already had the answer in front of them all along.

It also gave him a way to talk about things on a level one would hardly expect someone who was supposed to be an average Joe who was a butcher by day and a hermit by night.

"But seriously, Red, what are you looking to do?" Ross asked. "I know plenty of in-land fishing spots, and there's a few museums and other sites you can see if you're up for a drive."

Red looked back to the fillets he was prepping, and swallowed heavily, trying not to show his nervousness at actually asking. He knew he was about to open up a can of worms one way or the other, and now, he was almost regretting not just asking someone else. Finally, after Ross listed a few more solo activities, Red tried as nonchalantly as he could to ask, "Nah, I was thinking more along the lines of group stuff. Small group stuff."

He tried to ignore the sounds of the sausage grinder and pen on paper stopping.

"Just how small of a group are you thinking about?" he heard Ross say.

Red gulped. He could feel eyes on the back of his head and knew what was coming. Janey had lived up to her SOUL trait of Perseverence and had been trying for months to get him to come out and see the sights with her and her friends. She was a great human and all, but he didn't know if she could keep her mouth shut about Blue yet. Knowing her, she'd have selfies with the two of them posted all over social media within their first five minutes of meeting - and, knowing Blue, he'd probably enjoy that without realizing how many scumbags there were out there. It was hard enough for Red to hide who he was sometimes, but the more he thought about the publicity surrounding the revelation of merfolk would bring, the more anxious it made him.

For both his and Blue's safety.

Still, he couldn't exactly tell her to buzz off. He did that enough on a daily basis for her not to care (and, honestly, it was only half-hearted attempts on his part, anyway). And, considering her _other_ attempts to get him out to meet people, he was fairly certain he knew how this was going to be taken, and he knew it was only going to be marginally better for a time.

Welp, the safer option was the lesser of two evils, so...

"Small like...just two people."

...And silence.

He turned around to see Ross' eyebrows climb up to nearly his hairline, while Janey's eyes grew wider and wider as a most brilliant expression of awe, shock, and joy overtook her. 

Red shoved his filet knife into the slit belly of another fish and shoved it out of the way, bracing himself for impact. 

He held up his hands trying to stay his friend as she banged into the grinder table so hard she nearly flipped it over, squealing like a excited child on Gyftmas. "It's not what you-"

If he had had lungs, he was sure that his air would have been knocked out of them as Janey's bulk slammed into him, her arms going around his neck as she sent them both almost hurdling to the ground. The act was enough the get a scolding reprimand out of Ross, but that only made Janey marginally ease up her display of utter delight.

"Ross, look at your bony son!" she dramatically wailed. Red took one look at the summoned tears on her face and immediately regretted having forgotten that Janey was an occasional actress at the local theatre. "He's all grown up and got himself a _date_!"

Red tried to shove her off. "It's not a-"

His words died as he felt a hand stroking his head. Janey sniffled.

"I was so hoping you would find somebody that interested you," she said, "you're such a good guy, Red, even if you hide it with that uber-grumpy exterior of yours. I just knew that, deep down under the hard exterior of those bones of yours, there was a soft spot just waiting to be nurtured with a loving hand!"

Red's face contorted in horror.

"Janey?"

"Yes, Red?"

Red capped his hand over the one she had on his head and pulled it down before swearing loudly and shoving her off.

"Dammit, Janey," he said running for the hand sink, "you could have at least pulled off yer gloves before you started petting me like a cat!" 

He wondered if just scrubbing himself down with the bleach they used for the floor drains would be too abrasive for his bones. Then he wondered if he cared considering Janey had just smeared raw sausage across his cranium.

Between her and Blue, Red wasn't sure he was going to survive...

"I really am sorry about the sausage, Red," Janey said.

"Yeah, yeah, I forgive ya'! Will you leave it alone already?"

He turned, still grumpy about having to scrub cow parts off his head before noon. As he walked from his truck down to the docks, Janey followed him, almost bouncing as she twirled with happiness.

'Seriously, do I work with a five-year-old?' Red thought.

Janey bounded up next to him. "Seriously, though, Red, it's wonderful! I didn't even know you had friends!"

Red gave her a very unimpressed look.

"I didn't mean it quite like that," she admitted with a chuckle, "I meant you don't really get out much, so I assumed you liked your solitude and enjoyed it that way."

"Doesn't mean I don't have friends," he said gruffly. He may not have been as extroverted as Janey and Blue, but it didn't mean he was completely anti-social. He was capable of making friends. He had quite a few. It wasn't liked he wanted to leave them all behind the way he did. That was just how things worked out.

Janey's smile softened, though only by the merest amount. "I'm just saying this must be some special person to get a hermit crab like you to come out of your shell," she told him. "Is this the reason you've been so happy lately?"

"Dunno what you're talking about."

His coworker scoffed. "Oh, puh-lease, Red! You've been practically a chatty catty for the past month now! And I know getting a few shots of a pretty lobster can't make somebody happy for that long."

Red was still amazed Janey had kept one of the photos he took of Shimmer off social media as long as she had. She still kept it as her cell phone wallpaper, though.

She hopped around in front of him, walking backwards down the hill as she looked him in the face. "You really can't see it?" Janey asked, her tone a bit more serious.

"What?"

She raised her eyebrows and shook her head fondly. "Red, I haven't seen you smile so much since you came here. Heck, I didn't even know you could smile so much. I'm a little jealous none of my amazing plans helped with that, but I'm happy for you."

'Amazing plans,' Red mentally harrumphed. 'She calls setting me up on a blind date with a music teacher whose kids tripped me and tried to play the xylophone on my rib cage an "amazing plan".'

Remembering that and the shark Blue chucked at him made Red shudder.

He was fairly certain the world would implode if Blue and Janey ever met.

As they made their way down to where their local fish supplier was, Janey continued. "So, is it anyone I know? I know you didn't like Kara, so-"

Red shook his head. "No, nobody you know," Red told her. "He's from...out of town."

A thirty minute trip underwater was considered out of city limits, right?

"How did you two meet?"

'He saved me from a shark and then nearly killed me with it,' Blue thought with a grimace. "Uh, fishing."

"Fishing, huh? Hmm, why didn't I think of that," Janey thought aloud.

"Eh?"

She giggled. "Sorry, it's just I realized I could have set you up with some of the fishermen I know!"

"I already toldja, it's not a date!"

"You keep saying that," Janey said in singsong, "but the blushy-blushy on those bony cheeks of yours is saying otherwise~!"

Growling, Red scrubbed his face, mentally cursing how easily his embarrassment took physical form. "It's not like that! You're just annoying me, is all!"

Janey pouted. "C'mon, you old grouch! There's nothing wrong with having a crush on someone," she told him. "Is this 'cuz he's a guy? Is he still in the closet or something?"

The tingle on Red's face rose to a roaring, skull-encompassing burn. "How should I know?! We're not dating! I just want to show him around town because he's never been up here before! Why ya' gotta try to ship me with anybody who looks at me cross-eyed?"

"Hey, I have never shipped you with anyone cross-eyed," Janey told him. "Though, if you're into that, I know this guy named Peter..."

"Don't you even finish that sentence, kid," he said lowly, almost growling it. He surprised himself with the amount of ferocity in his voice, and even Janey looked a bit taken aback. That didn't last, however, as a wicked, knowing look soon replaced her shocked expression.

"Are you su~ure you don't like, uh..."

Red contemplated for a moment before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to at least tell Janey his friend's name. "Blue."

She smirked. "Blue, then. You sure you don't like him?"

Red could no longer feel even the chill of the biting winds coming from the sea with how hot his face was burning. Stars, he was pretty sure his blush was headed down his vertebra...

Why was Janey doing this to him? Was this some karmic payback for when he used to teas his brother over his crushes?

It wasn't even a crush! Blue was just a friend! Red could have friends! He _had_ friends! Plenty of them! Why couldn't she get that little fact through her head? Why did she have to slap some romantic label on it like some crazy coffee-fueled fanfic writer?

"Ugh, why do you keep asking me this?" 

"Why do _you_ keep dodging the question?"

Red shot one last annoyed look at her before throwing the furred hood of his coat up over his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and stomping off toward the fishmonger. "Let's just get our damn fish and get out of here."

Janey's cackling laughter echoed out over the water.

Meanwhile, out on a cluster of rocks, a pair of sleepy eyes watched the pair go as their owner munched on a couple of crabs that had fallen overboard from one of the fishing ships. As they observed the skeleton monster on the dock, a lazy half-smile spread out below them.

"Heh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked this one!
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	8. CHAPTER EIGHT: "Introspection"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his coworkers misunderstand his relationship with Blue, Red puts off his next get-together with Blue in order to deal with his lingering embarrassment. He tries to get his thoughts together, but finds that it's not as simple as it used to be with a recent vital part of his life suddenly missing from the equation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once, a chapter without much action in it (why, yes, I am capable of writing more than visual humor XD )
> 
> Also, I swear I am capable of writing a romance without one of the characters being tsundere, oblivious, or tied up in their own angst! Those tropes may be as cliche as hell, but heck if I don't love me some slow burn that makes me want to grab the screen and shake it as I write! But hey, y'all seem to be as every bit the masochists as I am, so JOIN ME IN THE FEELS.

CHAPTER EIGHT: "Introspection"  
—————————

Red couldn't bring himself to show his face to Blue for a few days until Janey's teasing words stopped replaying in his head. It didn't help that he kept replaying every stupid interaction of that day and kicking himself over how he should have responded differently. Why, oh why had he said this? Why did he react like that? Why had he allowed himself to get so riled up in the first place? And _why_ was he _still_ wound up over it?!

It wasn't that he was _trying_ to avoid the merskeleton. At least, that's what he told himself. Red wasn't about to up and just not show up on Monday. Ever since Blue learned that was one of his days off, that had become, well, for lack of a better way to put it, _their_ day. The other day they met was a toss up due to his availability and how he felt after work, but it wasn't set in stone. And while he often went to check his traps before or after work, he took a break from it for a few days, which meant he wasn't seeing Blue as spontaneously as often.

But by not setting another day to meet sooner, Red was pretty much prolonging the inevitable, and he wouldn't be surprised if Blue expected him to hang out with him for two days in a row. Once he'd made the mistake of opening his big mouth to the other butchers, they started to conspire against him, and Janey had wheedled enough information out of Red that Ross had given him two days off back-to-back to hang out with his "boyfriend".

" _You're a good worker, Red_ ," Ross had told him, " _but there's more to life than just working here and fishing._ "

Janey had made a crack about him telling that to his wife as she would love to hear that from him, and Ross had promptly responded with reminding Janey that she would have to work her least favorite delivery day. She had not been too happy about that and offered to swap with Red so she could go on his date while Red put up the truck. Red laughed her off and told her no way, to his immediate regret as he (and everyone else) realized that he had never clarified that he wasn't going on a date on those days off.

No amount of post-comment denial was able to salvage his dignity after that.

Honestly, though? He was starting to miss Blue. If Blue asked him, he wasn't sure his guilt would allow him to keep the secret of having two coveted days off together.

Which made him skirt around the issue of even having a reason to feel guilty, especially since he wasn't avoiding Blue, not at all...

'Meddling brat and meddling boss,' Red thought to himself as he made his way down to the beach. It was late at night and frigidly cold, what with the wind sweeping into the cliff-lined inlet and trapping the chill down there like air blown into a balloon. Even though it was night, Blue hardly ever came to the inlet to feed as he much preferred larger fish to the crustaceans that emerged to feed in the dark, so it wasn't as if Red really had to worry about running into Blue while he was still a scarlet-faced spluttering mess. The whole trip down, Red kept shaking his head and muttering to himself, pulling the cycling mask and scarf up over his face to douse the glowing burn of embarrassment on his face. He could easily put out his eyelights if he ran into Blue, but there was no way he was going to hide the steady flush on his face, so he'd taken precautions to hide the looming red beacon.

He should have been happy that his coworkers took his mentioning Blue as a potential love interest, as it stopped too much of their prying about specifics. It gave him a way to figure out how to help Blue achieve his dream without revealing that he was a sea monster. But Red was never good with being teased over his romantic life, and it always devolved into the flushed and sputtering mess he had become.

He just wished that Janey and Ross would leave it alone!

Red had to stop for a moment and take a few deep breaths in order to remind himself that he was doing this for Blue, for his _friend_...

It was absurd!

Red may have been virtually a hermit, but he was allowed to have friends! Why is it they could go from helping him try to make connections to suddenly picking out romantic undertones from anything he said? Especially when there were no undertones in the first place! Was this because this was the first friend Red had mentioned that wasn't part of Janey's friend group or Ross' fishing buddies? That had to be it.

Still, a little thought at the back of his mind nagged him that he'd never reacted this way to anyone else Janey tried to set him up with, and she teased something fierce if he so much as looked at one of his blind dates twice!

Although, Red had to admit that, if Janey had introduced him to Blue, Red would have been giving the sea monster more than just a couple of glances. 

But that was to be expected! Blue was a _merskeleton_ , for crying out loud! He could produce the sharpest of spiny fins in an instant, and he could even make some of the places on his tail glow in the water (something Red had discovered over time). He actually HAD a freaking FISH TAIL! He was a beacon for attention so bright even a blind man could see it.

Looks aside, how could anyone not look at someone partial to Blue's sort of antics, or or turn their head at the sound of that smooth baritone (Red was fairly certain had some sort of siren's magic to it that Blue never told him about)? At least Red didn't gawk!

...Much.

Alright, to be fair, if you took away the crazy stunts Blue pulled on a daily basis and the fact he was a freaking mythological creature, Red had to admit: in the most basic, physical sense, Blue was pleasing to the eye. 

He had a solid, sturdy structure with the smooth, milky white bones of traditional skeletal beauty. At the same time, it was beyond obvious that their owner was masculine, and the strange pairing of delicate-looking fins and hearty bones bedecked with spines painted a surreal pictures of opposites that somehow came together into something - dare he say it? Magnificent. 

(That thought earned Red's forehead a brief encounter with his hand.)

But then again, Blue himself was a bundle of opposites working together, wasn't he? A super-strong merman with an artist's soul, an intimidating lionfish-skeleton hybrid who was as physically affectionate as a freaking puppy, a mysterious member of a mythological species that all but screamed "Look at me, world! It's the Great and Magnificent Blue!"

Red chuckled. He could very well see Blue doing something like that.

At long last, he finally came to the campfire he had long ago made partially up the beach and sat down his lantern. One respite from the wind later and a neat batch of flames licked their way up from the dried driftwood tender, allowing Red to flick off his flashlight. The flickering orange gave off a surprising amount of light, so Red had no trouble seeing the beach around him on the moonless night.

He dragged over the driftwood bench and sat down to stare into the calming dance of the flames. Campfires always held a hypnotic quality for him, and he had many a good memory of spending late nights around them during his younger years. Days of camping or summer holidays were always so hectic, with their amusement mostly reserved for far more energetic folk like his brother. But at night? At night, his child self could finally be from from the chaos and allowed to sit, lazily roasting a marshmallow, the stick in his hand slowly lowering to the coals as he began to doze against his father or one of his numerous neighbors that had joined the festivities. The sharp crackles and pops were a lullaby, and the focused warmth in front of him as the night grew colder was more than enough to let him block out all other sounds as he was slowly lulled to sleep.

Ever since he moved there, Red found that chilling out by a campfire on the shore was a way to help him get his thoughts in order, and quickly became his routine for unwinding after a particularly stressful day at work.

Red supposed he could have achieved the same effect with a candle and saved himself the trouble of dealing with the biting winds and trekking down to the shore, but the little inlet, darkened by the blanket of night, almost thrilled him with how secluded it was. It was his own little space, known to few, where he could just relax and get his mind in order.

The crash of the waves just added to the peace of it all, drowning out what little highway traffic there was in the distance.

His eyes, however, could hardly stay focused on the fire with as often as he kept glancing out over the pitch black waters.

Red hadn't realized how often he was doing it until he realized the heat had nearly disappeared, notifying him that his little fire had been reduced to mere embers. It took some poking around, but he managed to get it going again, and he cursed himself for letting himself get distracted.

He hadn't made use of this routine since Blue had come into his life.

In fact, for all of the craziness that came with being friends with the merskeleton, Red hadn't felt himself overly distressed in a very long time. Blue was who he vented to now and, more often than not, Red completely forgot what he was venting about when Blue dragged him out for a swim, did a silly trick, or told him some funny story.

Red just didn't realize how used he had gotten to Blue's presence until he heard the clap of a fish leaping out and striking the water, whirling around and expecting to see two bright blue lights headed straight for him. 

The little leap his SOUL did was quickly written off as just surprise at the sound.

Finally, after the wind put out the scarcely smoldering cinders yet again, Red just gave up on trying to get his thoughts together and just hoped he wouldn't embarrass his fool self the next day when he met up with Blue, doused the fire in some sea water, and went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all once again for reading! Since there wasn't much more than a bit of introspective fluff lined with situational humor, if you all would like a funny little story to get your daily case of giggles, then take a look at this anecdote I shared over on Tumblr:
> 
> <https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/post/190711918977/the-pun-princess-and-the-ketchup-bet-funny-story>  
> 
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	9. CHAPTER NINE:  "The Stowaway"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue gets tired of waiting on Red to come visit him and takes matters into his own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to think of this as the fic I go to when I need warm fuzzies.
> 
> Also, this one scene is probably the most difficult one I've had to come up with yet - which is good because I've got the outline for most of the rest already written and ready to go! So the rest should be easier to do!

CHAPTER NINE: "The Stowaway"  
——————————

Red should have known something was going to go down after not seeing Blue for a little while.

It was as if, without Red there as an outlet for some of that boundless energy to be relaxed, the chaos just built until it was ready to explode. 

Maybe if he had just gone down to the beach that morning, he could have prevented the whole mess. But no, he just HAD to stretch out the inevitable, didn't he?

It started out as another quiet Sunday.

Too quiet, in fact.

Red was thankful that it was Thanksgiving week and that most people were content to grab up whole turkeys and canned hams rather than pester the butchers all day, but there were enough pescatarians (mostly thanks to some recent diet fad) that it warranted a trip down to the harbor for supplies.

The chilling wind carried with it the smell of salt water and fresh fish even halfway up into town, getting stronger as Red made his way down to the docks. This time, his boss had joined him and Janey in order to pay off the monthly store debt with their local fish supplier. 

Janey, in her usual energetic manner, looked over the fish as she helped pack them into crates, although she did so with chattering teeth. As Red hefted one of the full crates up, he decided to tease her a bit as payback for the past few days.

He shifted the crate onto his shoulder and began humming and snapping his fingers. "Listen to that beat, fellas!" he called to the fishermen around him. "Anybody pack their guitar with them? Be a shame not to join in when Janey's already started with the maracas!"

As one guy pulled out a harmonica and another offered to get a pair of spoons, Janey turned and scowled at Red, her teeth still chattering away, and hissed out an insult that made all of the men in earshot laugh. "I can't help it that I'm cold-natured!"

"Do we need to find you a nice rock to sunbathe on?" Red asked, grinning. He managed to dodge the handful of ice that came flying at his head, but the guys behind him were not so fortunate. Janey stuck her tongue out at him. "Be careful there, Chompers, or you might bite that off."

The human woman promptly informed Red of which two letters of the alphabet she felt adequately conveyed her feelings on the matter before yanking up a huge wooden lid and capping it down on her crate. She gritted her teeth and tucked her scarf back up over her face, effectively ending the the clacking chorus.

"Aww, she cut the music," Red said with a grin.

Janey picked up a hammer and a handful of tacks. "Don't you start with me, Red!" she said.

"Heh, what, can't deal with a little _ribbing_?" he said. One of the fishermen behind him snorted, while two others groaned and started complaining about yet another pun war.

His coworker glared at him over the lid. "Be careful there, Mr. Skeleton," she crooned, waving the hammer, "or I may just have to let the crew here in on a bit of workplace gossip! Say," she whacked in a nail with a single hit, "about a certain monster and his 'friend'...?"

The chorus of taunting "ohs" erupting around him put Red on the spot, and he marched off with the crate, grumbling about how Janey should get back to work. She burst into delighted, malicious chuckling as the fishermen heckled him. Seriously, for folks who spent most of their time out away from people on the open ocean, they were nosier that a bunch of old bored grandmas.

"Naw, man, come back!" one of the men shouted. 

"Yeah, we wanna hear this!" said another.

Red strode right past Janey, giving her a glare of his own. "I hope you choke on a herring bone."

Janey rose up and leaned seductively against the crate - or at least, attempted to. The fact that she was bundled up enough to look like a walrus stuffed into waterproof clothing only made her look comical. "Hey, is that any way to speak to a lady?"

"I dunno," Red said, "it's not like there's any around here for me to ask."

The fishermen turned their jibes on Janey after that, giving Red a moment's reprieve to make his way up to his truck to stow away the crate.

Most of the store's food came in on a larger delivery truck, but for the fresh fish and live lobsters, most of those were loaded up into personal vehicles. Having a pickup truck wasn't exactly a requirement of the job, but it did makes things a bit easier when it came to delivery fees. And it let him get out of the shop to get some air now and then.

As Red looked over the amassed crates, he wiped the sweat from his brow before lugging his latest load down from his shoulder. He might not have been able to chuck a shark like Blue could, but he wasn't a weakling by any means. At least, not when compared to some of the humans he knew. He didn't have the greatest HP in the world, but being able to lift and tote fifty-pound crates with one arm wasn't any problem so long as he had a break after a while. Working at the butcher's shop had kept him in shape in some ways lugging around heavy metal parts and gripping to the side of some of the submerged machines at his old job had not. He wasn't exactly interested in trying to break the sound barrier swimming like Blue did, but he was mildly proud of himself.

Briefly, he wondered if Blue would be impressed before the thought was immediately crushed by facts.

Blue literally had friends that could sheer off the mast of a sunken ship with a metal trashcan lid. He was pretty sure his being able to tote around a few crates of fish wouldn't be seen as that big of a deal.

And yet, Blue always seemed to get so hyped up over the least little thing. A voice deep down inside of Red told him that Blue would probably gush over Red's silly little accomplishment in the same way he had when he'd lit a fire on the beach and showed him how to roast fish.

He couldn't help chuckling to himself as he remembered the way Blue's eyes lit up - even if he had almost knocked the both of them into the fire when Red announced their snack was finally ready.

"Friend Red~!"

If Red found himself grinning at the memory of the merman's voice and the way he looked like he had tasted heaven on a stick, then that was just his little secret.

It was funny, in a way, how Red had gone from being beyond annoyed at being yanked out of his shell (and literally halfway across the bay) and more than a little intimidated by someone who could probably sink a ship with his bare hands to finding some of the merskeleton's antics...charming. He told himself that he probably needed to get out more, that maybe he hit his head harder than he thought that day he tried to save Shimmer, but that was a load of rubbish. Red had more than healed up since then without any form of head trauma mucking up any other parts of his day.

He just happened to find a strange sort of camaraderie with Blue that he hardly ever came across.

It was then he decided that his coworkers could think what they wanted.

Red was looking forward to seeing Blue again.

...Of course, Red knew he was likely going to cringe and wind up with another headache from all of the magic going to his face again the moment Janey started back in on him, but in that tiny, brief reprieve, he could imagine he was a lot more confident in his thoughts, right?

"...Red!"

He blinked as opened the door to his truck. Did he really miss Blue so much he started to imagine hearing his voice? He swiped off the side of his skull where his ears would be, if he had any, and wondered if he was hearing things. He looked back down at the docks and saw Ross step around the corner and wave to him.

Meh, just his boss.

He could have _sworn_ he had heard Blue, though.

Maybe he was going through friendship withdrawal.

Was that even a thing?

Red shrugged and headed back down the hill, not bothering to lock up his truck. If someone was going to make off with 300 lbs of fish in that old clunker, then let them go through the effort.

A few minutes later and he and Janey were free to go, with their boss promising to catch up with them.

"Hey, Red?" Janey asked as she reached into his backseat, or where the backseat should have been. Red's truck had two backseats, but they folded up to leave more space. He often forgot they were even back there and just used that part of the cab as extra storage. Right now, all that Red had back there was an extra jacket, a few emergency blankets, some ropes, and the sandbags he'd started to lug around in the bed of his truck for added weight on the impending snowy days. All were hidden by the great blue tarp he'd tossed over them. "Aren't you gonna put this over the crates?"

"Nah," Red told her, "nothing's poking over the top enough to tip over. Tying it all down would just be a wasted effort."

Janey withdrew her hand. "Aww, but what if I wanted to go sailing out over the ocean?"

Red snorted. "If the wind's ever strong enough to blow tarp, truck and all out over the water, then you better watch out 'cause something's likely to drop a house on your sister."

Janey repeated his words, mocking him. "I'll have you know that I don't have a sister!"

Red hopped in the truck and shut the door as Janey hopped into the passenger seat. "Well, then, I guess you're gonna need to watch out, then."

She shoved him, making him laugh as he turned the key in the ignition, causing the truck to roar into life. Then Janey started laughing. "Hey, at least I'd look better in ruby slippers than you."

"What, you don't think I could pull off anything that glittered that much?"

"Pfft, nah, more like high heels can be a pain," she told him, "but I can bedazzle you a pair of house slippers! That seems more your style."

Red practically guffawed as they headed back up the hill. Thankfully, the trip didn't take very long. They unloaded the crates and began to set up the store.

"Are you excited?" Janey asked him as he flipped the CLOSED sign to OPEN.

"'Bout what?" Red shot back.

Janey gave him an unamused look. "You know what I'm talking about," she said. "Blue! Aren't you excited to see him tomorrow? That's when you're going to go visit him, right?"

Red fought back the urge to widen his grin. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" his coworker made a strained noise as she collapsed dramatically onto the counter. She pulled herself back up and looked very sullen when he walked up. 

"Well...?"

"Well what?"

She groaned and fixed him with a look. "When do we get to meet him?"

"What?" Red pulled himself back and looked at her incredulously.

"Re-eeeeed, I wanna see him!" she whined, then straightened as her expression instantly sobered. "It is my duty as your friend and coworker to make sure he's on the up and up!"

"I don't recall reading that in the job description when I applied," he grumbled. He had a plan worked out so Blue might be able to pass as a regular monster on the Surface if people didn't pry too much, but it wasn't completely ready yet.

Janey groaned. "C'mon, Red, it's almost Thanksgiving! And I'll be extra thankful this year if you let me see what your beau-to-be looks like," she said, linking her hands under her face and batting her eyelashes for good measure. Red facepalmed.

"Janey, c'mon, lady, just leave it alone."

"Aww, but why can't we see him?" Her expression sobered again. "He's not already married, is he?"

Red looked at her in disgust. "No! Stars, no!" He may not have had the greatest self-esteem in the world, but he wasn't a homewrecker.

"Then is he a convict? Red, did you fall in love with someone in prison? I mean, it would make sense. You said he was really strong. Maybe he got all swol from lifting weights all day while finishing his sentence."

Red's disgust morphed into confusion. "Where do you even come up with these things?"

"Well, if he's not a convict and he's not already taken, then why won't you let us see him? Is he ugly? Seriously, Red, we're not going to judge you if he looks like the swamp beast."

Red rolled his eyelights. "No, Janey, he's not ugly."

Wrong thing to say.

A Cheshire Cat grin split Janey's face. "So you think he's hot?"

"I-I didn't say that, ya' twerp!"

"You didn't _not_ say it, either," she pointed out.

Red growled. "Look, can't you just leave it alone?"

Janey beamed with glee. "Nope! Especially not when talking about him makes you all blushy-blushy," she said, booping his nasal bone and reminding Red that his face had slowly been heating up ever since she had mentioned Blue's name. 

The skeleton wiped his hands over his face and growled at her. "Look, Janey, leave off. I'm going to see Blue. He's not coming here. Alright? You ain't going to see-"

As Red slowly dragged his hands down his face, his eyes caught movement at the back of the kitchen. Above the industrial sinks was a window overlooking the alley. There wasn't much of anything out there, normally, just a tall wooden fence to block off view of the dumpster to prevent illegal dumping, the dumpster itself, and the wall of the dance studio next door. He could also just barely make out the roof of his truck where he was still parked back there.

It took him a full three seconds for him to realize that the blue tarp in his backseat had emerged from the passenger side door and had sprouted arms as it clawed its way up onto the roof off his vehicle. Then, in shock and horror, he watched the tarp slip away with the swing of a long fish tail, and watched as Blue lost his grip on the metal roof and disappeared out of sight.

His mind reeled.

The door was open and the tarp had caught onto the door as Blue had disappeared. He hadn't imagined it. How had Blue gotten in there? Red parked his truck in his garage every night! There was no way Blue could have sneaked into his house, could he?

Those questions could all be answered later because there was a very good chance that he had a very injured merskeleton lying in the gravel outside.

"I'll be right back," Red told Janey. "I...left something in my truck..."

He motioned for Janey to stay put as he willed himself not to bolt like his feet had caught fire outside to check on Blue. Thankfully, she didn't follow him, and he was able to slip out the backdoor and close it behind him before he broke into a complete and utter panic.

Blue wriggled himself into a sitting position, one hand gently rubbing his head for a moment as he looked around. Red leaped off the back step in a move that surprised even him, though he nearly ate gravel himself as he stumbled to upright himself as he hurried over to Blue.

"Dammit, Blue," he whispered roughly, "what the hell are you doing here?! You're not hurt, are you?"

Blue's big starry eyelights only seemed to widen as Red checked him over. "Language, my dear friend! Although, despite your crude choice in vocabulary, it is very good to see you again!"

Red hissed at Blue to quieten down as looked around to make sure no one had heard or seen him. Thankfully, no one seemed to be in the back parking lot and the only window between the two buildings was the one on the butcher shop's side. He yanked the tarp over Blue, covering his tail and most of his body, leaving part of it to drape over his head like a blanket. Blue beamed and hugged him, nearly bowling him over. Red quickly righted the two of them and shot a look toward the backdoor, praying that Janey didn't walk outside.

"Where did...How did..." Red reaffixed the tarp to hide Blue. "Why are you here?!"

Blue just smiled. "Why, I came to see you, of course!"

"Yes, I understand that, but why are you _here_? Out of the water?"

Blue proudly thumbed toward himself. "I am a tough merskeleton! I shall not dry out so quickly, or did you forget the conversation we had?"

Truthfully, Red didn't remember much when he was panicking, and all he knew right now was that his mind was screaming "MERMAN + NO WATER + AT WORK + JANEY = THIS. _IS_. _**BAD**_ ".

"Blue," his hands shook, unsure of whether he should just throw the sea monster into his truck or strangle him, "how did you even get here?"

Blue gestured to Red's truck. "I saw you arrive at the harbor in this marvelous contraption. This - how do you say it? This automobile?" he said, looking very smug for having remembered the right Surface Dweller terminology. "Yes, well, after my brother informed me that he saw you coming to and from the docks the other day, I decided that I would come and surprise you! You did not hear me call to you, so I decided to secret myself away in your land vessel here. Of course, only one as crafty and clever as I could pull off such a plan so flawlessly! Mweh heh heh!"

So Red hadn't imagined Blue's voice down at the docks. He resisted the urge to facepalm.

The merskeleton looked around happily. "Is this where you spend so much of your time?" his smile faltered. "It...well...I am sure it is much nicer on the inside!" he told Red, flashing him a wide smile before attempting to hop-crawl over toward the door. Red tackled him to stop him, harshly whispering for Blue to hold up.

He yanked him back upright and held his shoulders firmly so the merman would not get away. Red realized that, logically, he had about eight seconds to convince Blue otherwise before the merskeleton easily tore out of his grip and decided to drag himself into the public eye.

"Now, listen here, you little stowaway," Red told him as gruffly as possible, "you're not going in there! My coworker is in there right now, and she-"

"Ah, yes, Stretch said she seemed like such a delightful young lady! It would be a pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a human."

Now, Red was not a crying monster by any means, but the amount of stress he was under at the moment was nearly about to bring him to tears. 

"How does your brother even know about...? You know what, never mind! We have to get you out of here before anyone sees you."

Blue perked up, which caused him to sit bolt upright - and nearly bonk his face into Red's. 

Thankfully, panic won over the embarrassment of barely being able to get a piece of paper between the two of them for a moment, and Red pulled back. He motioned for Blue to stay still as he sneaked around to the side of the window and peeked in. He watched Janey, clipboard in hand, walk into the cooler to do a product check, and he let out a shaky sigh. 

An instant later, and, with speed even Blue might envy, he had the merskeleton rolled up in the tarp and hefted into his arms. Quickly, he lunged at the truck, trying his best to not injure either of them in the process of stowing Blue into the backseat. Blue seemed not at all displeased by the manhandling.

"What sort of game is this, Friend Red?"

Red maneuvered the sea monster's tail into the backseat and closed the door, reentering through the front passenger door a moment later and nearly clearing the seat as he worked to get one of the backseats down while Blue was taking up most of the floorboard. Once he had Sushi-rito Blue into the seat and buckled in, he told the merman to duck his head and stay out of sight.

"Look, one of these days, if we know it's safe for you, I promise I'll let you come see my place of business," Red told him in a low voice, "but right now, we _need_ to get you back to the water before someone sees you. Alright?"

Blue's starry eyes almost glistened with excitement. "Then we can visit with one another?"

Knowing that both his paycheck and Janey were going to hate him for what he was about to do, Red finally nodded. Blue's eyelights expanded to the point they nearly filled his sockets. Then Red pulled back.

"Don't go anywhere. I mean it!" he told him as firmly as he could muster. Blue gave him a tiny salute from his hunched over position, and Red felt grateful for being able to pull off one miracle that day.

Grimacing, he ran back into the kitchen and threw open the cooler door. 

"Janey?!"

Upon hearing her name, Janey whirled around. "Red?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "You okay, buddy?"

Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, Red gritted his teeth and prepared himself for what he knew he was going to pay dearly for later.

"Look, Janey, I've got to go," he told her. Instantly, Janey's eyes widened with horror.

"Oh, no, you are not leaving me here-"

"Sorry, it's an emergency!"

Before she could yell at him some more, Red had dashed out the back and climbed into his truck. He saw Janey appear in the doorway as he reached for his driver's door.

"Red Skeleton, what are you-"

He raised up out of his seat and shouted back to her. "I'm really sorry, Janey, but I'll make it up to you! Let the boss know I'm sorry! Be back on Wednesday!"

With his coworker looking bewildered beyond all comprehension, Red slammed his door shut and proceeded to put pedal to the metal-

-All while a highly entertained Blue looked on from the backseat, the seat belt only just barely holding him up off the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks very much to the lovely person who donated to my Ko-Fi! You are awesome~!  
> And thanks to all of you that continue to read and listen to my audios and comment!
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> 


	10. CHAPTER TEN:  "You Showed Me Yours, Now I'll Show You Mine"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red confronts Blue over his reckless behavior, and Red finds he can't stay mad at the merskeleton.  
> Then we commence the three-ish day vacation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Folks.
> 
> Oh, goodness gracious, you guys.
> 
> Sorry it took a while but you all are going to love this. I promise.
> 
> Get your jammies on and snuggle down, because this is going to be one chapter you're going to want to be comfortable for all of the warm fuzzies.

CHAPTER TEN: "You Showed Me Yours, Now I'll Show You Mine"  
————————

Red was very thankful he made it down to the beach without getting into a wreck or being pulled over by the cops. Despite how bright the sun was shining, the temperature was in the single digits Fahrenheit, so not that many people were out playing in the quickly cooling waters. He pulled down a dirt path to a place Ross had once showed him where to fish and, after making sure the nearby shore was free of bystanders, nearly wrenched his back passenger door off its hinges.

As he unhooked Blue's seatbelt, the merman turned to him, his eyes glowing with excitement. Red let him raise up as he was driving so long as Blue didn't show off his fins, and Blue had been chattering and gasping and making a wide variety of delighted sounds while Red tried not to let his anxiety spiral out of control. 

Without a word, he slung Blue over his shoulder, tarp and all, and hauled him over to the ocean. He walked out until the water was up to his waist and nearly knocked him off balance before he awkwardly shuffled the merskeleton down into the water and helped unfurl him from the blue plastic. Blue wriggled out, happily splashing about in the water as he snaked and leaped through it. Wearily, Red could finally feel his SOUL starting to calm and was barely able to make it back onto drier sand before his legs gave out.

He buried his head in his shaking hands. Why was this happening to him? 

The sound of shuffling sand and splashing water closed in on him as Blue dragged himself back up onto the shore, plopping down to sit next to Re.

"Mweh heh heh! That was so much fun! What shall we do next, Friend Red?"

"Next?" Red asked, his eyelights flashing between his finger bones. "Next?!"

Blue nodded. "Can we go for another drive? Or would you prefer to go for a swim? Or how about we-"

Red felt another emotion bubbling up within the void of his slackening fear - one that he tried to crush down as he reminded himself that Blue was innocent to Red's own world and the potential problems that could stem from letting that childlike wonder get out of control. Of course, that same carefree recklessness was what nearly caused Red to have an aneurysm in the first place.

(Which, given Red had no blood vessels, was quite the feat.)

He took a few steadying breaths, trying to remind himself that this was _Blue_ , his hyperactive lunkhead of a friend who-

'Could have gotten himself seen by all and sundry!' he thought with a grimace. 

"Blue," Red interrupted the merskeleton's enthusiastic tirade, "did anyone see you climb into my truck?"

Blue laughed heartily. "Of course not, Friend Red! I am a master at the art of stealth!" He let out a proud little "mweh heh", and Red tried not to correct him in how un-stealthy his failing to climb onto the roof of the truck had been. He removed the hands from his face.

"What on earth possessed you to do that?" Red said, his frustration rising.

"I wanted to see you!" Blue told him. 

And he just...smiled, like that was the answer for Blue risking life and limb for five minutes of attention. He recalled someone else who often wore a smile and liked to goof around, and look what had happened to them!

A sharp pain ran through Red's SOUL at the thought of Blue receiving the same fate. Red still had nightmares over what he witnessed, and he didn't need Blue's face added to the starring role! 

Just then, the unpleasant malaise suddenly roared to life as an enraged fire, and Red narrowed his eyes.

"You wanted to see me?" he said lowly.

Blue nodded, still smiling.

Red began again, punctuating every word in his utter disbelief, letting his thoughts come out measured and even in attempt to stem the rising tide of emotions threatening to break loose. "Let's forget the fact that you could have dried out and dusted into a pile of fish flakes for one minute. You swam into a harbor. A place full of huge boats that could have crushed you, where there were fishermen with nets, harpoons, and too much curiosity for their own damn good to not either truss you up like a shark _or_ snap a hundred photos of you and post them all over the internet. And, on top of that, you rode in the back of my truck - behind Janey, who is the biggest loudmouth I have ever met and who most DEFINITELY would have had you smeared all over social media."

Oh, stars, Janey had nearly grabbed the tarp when they were at the docks, too! What would she have done if she had lifted that up and saw Blue's dumbstruck smile? Probably screamed and gotten the fishing crew involved.

Nausea washed over Red.

Blue, who had social media explained to him a few weeks ago, looked eager at the prospect of photos. "You said that was how some Surface Dwellers find friends, yes?"

Red scoffed. Leave it for Blue to overlook all of the dangerous stuff in favor of the one perceived positive.

A very false positive.

"Blue, do you have any idea what would happen if word of you or your kind got out to the wrong people? Or what if one of those fishermen had gotten a hold of you? Do you really not think for a minute that any of them wouldn't sell you for fame and fortune? I'm not sure how much a merskeleton would go for on the Black Market, but I know damn sure that there are some very horrible people out there that would be willing to name any price!"

The sea monster just smiled. "Then we shall just have to find the right people, will we not?"

Red capped his hands over his face and groaned, flopping back onto the sand in despair. There was no arguing with this monster! Blue poked on his hands after a moment, and Red let them fall to his sides. 

"What?"

"You are being awfully dramatic about this."

The skeleton scowled wearily up at him. "I am not being dramatic."

"My dear friend, I mean no offense, but you are," Blue told him. "Besides, did you not already inform your companions of my existence? Stretch told me he overheard you discussing my presence."

Red groaned. "I didn't tell 'em you were a sea monster! I just mentioned I had a friend coming in from out of tow!. I've only lived up here for about a year and I don't get out much, so I was trying to get some advice on what to show you. How does your brother even know about that?"

"The fishermen often drop crabs and fish from the ships, and my brother, sadly, will do anything for a free meal. So unmotivated, that one..." Blue tsked. "But, I digress! He happened to be nearby and witnessed you and the young lady speaking and saw where your vehicle went. It was all a matter of simple deduction after that!"

Suddenly, Red's rage snuffed out under an icy tide of embarrassment as he recalled some of what he and Janey had talked about. He felt sweat prickle on his forehead and the area around his neck vertebra tighten, making him want to tug at his collar to loosen it. Instead, he sat frozen, half afraid to move.

Slowly, the words fell out of him. "What did Stretch tell you we talked about exactly? Did he, uh, mention any specifics?"

Thankfully, some unseen deity must have heard his prayer, because Blue just shook his head. "No, he refused to tell me anything else, but he _did_ say that I would immensely enjoy myself with whatever you have in store! So let us commence with your plans!"

Red breathed a sigh of relief. Stretch hadn't spilled the beans, after all. Not that there were any beans TO spill, but the last thing Red needed was to make things awkward with one of the few friends he had.

He then realized just how natural that thought felt to him.

They really were friends now, weren't they? Red no longer saw him as a mysterious mercreature that he was tentatively interacting with, but someone he truly felt rapport with. When he was scared of Blue getting injured or seen, it wasn't just about preserving the safety of a cryptid, but making sure his friend was okay.

Red looked at Blue's tail.

"Are yer fins alright? You were out of the water for at least a good half-hour."

Blue fanned his tail fin out in the water, showing how supple and pliant the nearly transparent membranes were. "But of course! It takes far longer than that to harm the Great and Magnificent Blue!"

Red smiled fondly and shook his head.

"So, where shall we go?"

Red thought for a moment. Knowing how Blue would be alright on land for a bit opened up a few more avenues.

"Well, since I know you aren't going to flake on me right away, how about we start with my place?"

Red's home wasn't the largest house in the world by any means, but with Blue visiting him, that was a blessing. He was thankful that he was never really big on keeping around a lot of knickknacks, so the Spartan approach meant that Blue was less likely to bash into anything and hurt himself.

The trip took another forty-five minutes into Red's secluded neck of the woods, so Read had had to finagle the tarp in such a way that it would keep at least a little sea water in it to hydrate Blue (he wasn't looking forward to cleaning off the milky blue residue from Blue's tail, but Blue assured him that, as it was magically based, it would disappear very shortly. He was still going to wash it, though). By the end of the trip, however, half of the water had slipped out into the floorboard because Blue kept fidgeting around to watch the passing scenery.

At least Blue didn't get motion sickness.

When they arrived, Red drug out a few other tarps from his garage and laid them out across the floor, leaving a path from the kitchen into the living room and to the bathroom. Then, he brought Blue inside.

Blue was _fascinated_.

The questions flew at Red a mile a minute, without Red being able to answer much of any of them because of Blue hop-flopping around on the floor, flinging himself over to this or that new item of inquiry. Red was at least thankful that Blue had his own knife block for filleting fish in his underwater home, because he didn't need to be swatting his fishy friend away from sharp objects every five seconds.

He did feel safe enough to leave him for a moment and proceeded to the bathroom, with Blue following right on his heels, scrunching the tarps up as he went.

"Ooh, what is that?" Blue said as they entered. Red thumbed toward the item in question.

"This? This is called a 'bathtub'," Red said, "us Surface Dwellers use it to clean off our bodies."

Blue chuckled and shook his head. "Dear Red, you jest with me! I have seen a bathtub before and this is not it."

"That's 'cause the one Stretch uses for a bed is one of those old-timey freestanding ones," Red told him, recalling the article of furniture in question that they must have dug up from another shipwreck. "This thing is called whirlpool tub."

That actually was something Red had installed after he arrived. He wasn't as massive as a human or some of the monsters he knew, but if he was going to live in what was basically exile, he was going to do so with at least one luxury. The corner tub was more than big enough for two average-sized humans, giving him plenty of space to relax in it and soak his weary bones when a shower just would not do. 

After filling up the tub with water he felt wouldn't either boil or freeze Blue, he stepped aside and let the sea monster have at it. Blue pulled himself over the side and slipped in with the fluid elegance of an eel, sinking into the waters with a thoroughly pleased sigh. Within moments, out came his extraneous fins as Blue wriggled and coated himself in the bath. Red had to laugh when Blue noticed the thick glass door on one side, for the moment he dove under the water to wave at Red, his tail flopped up, causing his tail fin to sling water at him. Despite how tired he was, Red had gotten very used to dodging unwanted splattering sine meeting Blue, allowing him to sidestep the spray with ease.

Blue pulled himself back up. "My apologies, Friend Red."

"Meh, no big deal," he said, yanking down a towel from the linen closet and tossing it onto the puddle. "By the way, why do you call me that?"

"Because your name is Red and you are my friend," Blue promptly replied.

Red swiped over the splashed water with his foot on the towel. "Yeah, but most of us Surface Dwellers don't add the word 'Friend' like a title in front of our buddies' names," he said. "If you're wanting to see the sights, you need to blend in. Just call me Red, yeah?"

Blue's face started to fall for a moment before he seemed to realize what Red was suggesting. He shoved himself up on the side of the tub, nearly pitching himself out of the bath. "Do you mean you are going to - ahh!"

Before Blue could finish his happy nosedive onto the floor, his descent was blocked by two sturdy arms. "Whoa, easy does it, Blue!" Red warned him as he helped Blue back into the tub. "Don't want yer first time visitin' me to put you in the hospital. Now," he asked as Blue settled back into the water, "how's the water? Need it colder or hotter?"

Blue waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, there is no need to boil any water on my account! You have already done so much for me. This will suffice."

Red scratched his skull. "I mean, it's no trouble, all you've gotta do is turn the faucet here on and try not to scald yourself."

For a full SOULbeat, what Red thought was impossible happened: Blue went silent for more than a few seconds.

The silence did not last, mind you, and actually returned in the form of a hopping Blue, eyelights sparkling with glee as he turned both handles of the faucet, causing a deluge of water to shoot out of the spigot. Red grabbed them and turned them down, adjusting them so toasty water poured into Blue's bath while explaining the basics of indoor plumbing. 

Blue stared like Red had the very stars in the sky in his hands.

"This is amazing," Blue said, almost breathless, "I know a sea monster who can produce short bursts of magic like fire, but that is all."

"Really?"

Blue nodded, letting his skeletal fingers bask in the warm water coating them. "My brother and I sometimes bring sun-warmed stones back to the ship to lay on, but that is the only way we can change the water temperature. Most of us sea monsters cannot change the water temperature, so we make our abodes where the water is warmest."

Red couldn't believe how much he had managed to impress Blue over something as simple as freaking _bath water_. "Not too hot for you, is it?"

Blue shook his head and asked if Red could turn the heat up. Red grinned.

"My pleasure."

Almost immediately, steam began rising from the water and Blue just sank, his eyelids closing. "Surface Dweller inventions are AMAZING~!"

Red's laughter echoed throughout the bathroom.

Eventually, the water was high enough that Red had to cut it off so he didn't wind up flooding his house. Blue looked so utterly content soaking his bones in the semi-scalding water, his fins gently floating with careless abandon around him. After a few moments to rest, Red straightened and went to head out of the room, but was stayed by Blue's voice.

"Where are you going, Red?"

"Figured I'd make us some supper," Red thumbed toward the door.

Blue looked up at him through lidded eyes, barely (for once) budging from his spot. "I would prefer if you remained in here, with me," he told Red, slightly softer than usual. 

Red wanted to point out that they had nearly three days to spend together and that a few minutes apart wouldn't be that much of an interruption, but looking at the image of the hyperactive mermonster half-submerged, his tail now somehow curled up enough to fit under the water with just the barest tip of the tail fin folded back onto its surface, Red found he didn't want to break the spell that put this scene before his eyes.

Instead, he just murmured a gravely "Alright" before closing the door to the bathroom to keep out the draft.

Red sat down on the little step by the tub. "How's this?" he asked softly. Blue inclined his head and let his eyelids slip closed.

"Perfect."

Time lost all meaning after that. The heat of the bath water effectively turned the room into a sauna, leaving misty clouds of steam to roll throughout the room, fogging up the mirror and small window that lay well above the two monsters. Red found himself unable to speak - unable to do much of anything, really, save rest his head over his arms on the rim of the tub. 

They had known each other for a little more than a month, and never during any of that time had Red ever seen Blue so...still. If not for the fact that Blue's ectobody still remained, as whole and vibrant and hale as ever, Red might have worried that he had inadvertently boiled Blue alive. Judging from the slight twitch of a fin or finger, Red realized that the excitement of the day must have gotten to Blue. His being out of the water for as long as he had likely drained him somewhat, as well, and Red realized that Blue was either too stubborn to admit it or...

Or.

'He really wanted to see me,' came the unbidden thought, and it made Red's SOUL pulse _hard_.

Under the steam-brightened incandescent lights of his bathroom, looking on as the merskeleton slept in his bathtub, Red's eyelights winked out as he realized just how small the room was. Unless they were in the hospital with their lives on the line, nobody watched their friends sleep. They didn't watch them taking a bath. And they most certainly didn't watch them sleep IN the bath.

Red knew he should have gotten up. He should have left. He should have gone to do...something, ANYTHING else. 

But disturbing the peaceful image before him felt sacrilegious.

He knew Blue would be fine if he left. He wasn't going to drown or bake in the heat of the bathroom. He wouldn't even be annoyed that much if he left. After all, they had plenty of time set up for visiting the next few days.

But he didn't _want_ to leave.

Red couldn't pull his eyes away.

He couldn't stop feeling the phantom pressure of feeling Blue in his arms, of the bony arms that had slung around his neck in the alley or awkwardly gripped to his back when he nearly fell from the tub. Of the scarcely seen blue lights through lidded eyes, and the warmth that invaded him with that sleepily murmured " _Perfect_ ".

Swallowing heavy, he knew he shouldn't, but he let his eyes drift down from the sleeping face to the bony arms draped around the rim holding Blue up, then back to the soaked bandanna, the strength in the rib cage mingled with ectoflesh, and down, down, until the azure magic warped in the water, the steam obscuring the tail and the minor cloth trappings adorning it.

He glanced back to Blue as sweat pricked at his bones, but the merskeleton's eyes remained closed.

It was then Red realized just how close the fingers of one of Blue's hands were to one of his own. Not even an inch in between them. How long had they been like that? So close they were nearly touching?

And why did Red so desperately wish they were just the slightest bit closer?

His body hummed with an almost electrical sensation bordering between giddiness and anticipation as the sheer _intimacy_ of the whole situation flooded him.

In the back of his mind, Red knew he should have left, should never have looked on while his friend slept. 

Not because it felt wrong. 

No, because it felt so damn natural to him that he didn't want to look away.

As his eyelights zoned back in and he focused in on Blue's face, he wanted so badly to just reach out and brush his fingers over his slumbering skull.

Red's SOUL pulsed harder, the discomfort of the intense heat and even more intense emotions bubbling up within him, banishing all self-loathing, all embarrassment, all thought to anything that lay beyond that room. 

In that moment, nothing else existed.

In that moment, it was just Red and Blue.

In that moment, Red realized...

He was never getting his heart back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm pretty proud of this one. It's definitely not the only intimate scene I'll have between these two in this fic, but it's definitely going to be one of my top favorite ones to write. And, hey, can we get this fic to 100 KUDOS? That would make my day!
> 
> Anyway, hope you are all enjoying this! Be sure to check out my Tumblr for more updates and my YouTube for podfics, funny stories, and audios.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	11. CHAPTER ELEVEN: "You Wanna Kiss De' Boy"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red decides to show Blue what a normal evening hanging out on the Surface with friends would be like as he comes to terms with his new realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience! I've been having such fun with podfics and art lately that I suppose I've neglected these stories. No matter! they shall be completed! 
> 
> Also, wow, from 670 views to over 800?! And you guys went above and beyond the 100 kudos I asked for! Thank you all so much!!!  
> As a reward, I have posted a depiction of Sushi-rito Blue from the last chapter at the start of this one! Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, I won't lie, I may have slightly been blushing as I wrote some of this but OH MY GOD, go see why. You're going to love it!)

<https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/post/611095917234388992/its-a-sushi-rito-blue-underswap-sans-xd>

  
CHAPTER ELEVEN: "You Wanna Kiss De' Boy"  
——————————

  
Eventually, Red knew he needed to get up, for even a skeleton becomes stiff after being stuck in the same awkward position for too long. By that point, most of the steam had dissipated, as did the strange spell that had come over him in the moments before. Careful not to disturb Blue's slumber, he eased himself to his feet, his vertebra popping slightly as he did so. 

Taking one last, lingering look at the mermonster in his bathtub, Red finally managed to tear his gaze away.

As he opened the door to the bathroom, the chill from the rest of the house quickly greeted him, making him hurry to quietly shut the door behind him. He wiped the quickly cooling sweat from his brow, grimacing at the droplets that had pooled around his eye sockets and joints and regretting that he had chosen to let the moisture collect there rather than move and possibly awaken Blue.

He tugged at his work shirt, feeling the baggy fabric damp with condensation and sweat. Suddenly, he became hyperaware of the way the normally stiff shirt now clung to him, and a shiver ran unbidden up his back at the thought of Blue seeing him like that. However, logic trailed behind it, reminding Red that not only did he hardly ever care how he appeared around people so long as they left him alone, but that Blue had seen him drenched before. Rather, the damp shirt was more of a gleaming, guilty beacon that he had literally watched his friend sleep.

That, and he had most definitely given Blue a once-over while he was lying in that tub. He also knew most certainly that the only thing that had kept his eyes from roving further down that stretch of aquamarine ectobody was the steam blocking his view.

Blue, for all of his cleverness, was so innocent. The combination of obvious strength of form and brilliance of magical flesh and ivory bone made strange bedfellows for such a personality. Normally, both humans and monsters that had physiques most would pride themselves in would be so much more invested in their looks, but Blue put no more stock into his appearance than donning a simple bandanna and what was little more than a lengthy loincloth (a thought that made Red's face heat up once more). Red knew plenty of his peers that seemed to develop a swelled head along with their muscles, but Blue? Blue was kind and generous, caring and adventurous. Pairing innocence with a form obviously developed from survival at sea rather than vain aesthetics put Blue on par with the old human stories of men being long estranged from society and being raised by animals.

Not that Red was comparing Blue to a fictional wild man, but within the similarities lay an almost primal ideal - one that momentarily left Red with a sudden barrage of half-formed thoughts on how Blue's unique blend of traits might play out under _other_ circumstances.

Swallowing heavily, Red decided he could come to terms with his newfound insight once he was more presentable.

  
Eventually, Red heard the sound of water sloshing and Blue call out. He called back to him, prompting the bathroom door to soon swing open. Blue shifted in the doorway, stretching his limbs as he let out a yawn.

(It took Red a moment to acknowledge the fondness that blossomed through his chest at the sight of the groggy mermonster, but he quashed it down before the other could notice - though not so far that he couldn't still let himself feel it.)

"Forgive me, Red," the sea monster said, "it was very rude of me to fall asleep thus. I normally do not remain idle for very long, so..."

"You get still, you conk out," Red finished for him. "I get it."

Blue smiled and thrust a pointed finger toward the air. "Indeed, my observant friend!" he shifted himself a bit more gracefully this time (though not by much) and, rather than the weird little hop-flop he had done earlier, shuffled his arms and tail around to almost spin around until he got to the sofa. Red couldn't help but snicker at him. "Do not laugh at me!" Blue said, though he was barely suppressing a grin in his mock anger. Red just shook his head and grinned.

"Kinda hard not to when you look like you're trying to do a cartwheel."

"I do not know what that is, but I assure you that I, the Magnificent Blue, am the epitome of grace and elegance!"

As Blue said this, he pulled himself up onto the couch - which resulted in him misjudging either his own strength or the depth of the seats, as he catapulted himself into the back of the sofa and just sort of flopped over onto the cushions.

Red burst out laughing and then went to retrieve something from the kitchen.

A few moments later, he returned and held out a large glass of water to Blue. The mermonster took it gratefully and began to drink, his eyelights focusing on the item in Red's other hand. 

"What is it you have there?" Blue asked.

Red fanned it out, pulling the flimsy black plastic taught in his hands. "A garbage bag."

Blue raised a brow ridge. "Yes, I can see that, but what I mean is why are you carrying a garbage bag?"

"It's for you."

Blue was visibly taken aback by this. "What?" Red handed the bag to Blue.

"Slip that over your tail," he told Blue, "while I go get some more water. It's so you won't dry out while you're sitting on the couch."

Blue's stars lit up with realization and he immediately began to fiddle with the bag. Red couldn't help but crack a smile. Blue wore the industrial-sized lawncare bag as if he were about to participate in a sack race. 

'Cute,' Red thought as he turned to head back into the kitchen.

"The Great and Magnificent Blue is not cute! Have you been speaking with my brother behind my back?" Red gritted his teeth as he tried to halt the grin that continued to widen across his face, partially out of embarrassment for unknowingly thinking aloud and partially because Blue was continuing to prove Red's point. Finally, the mermonster threw up his arms and fell back onto the couch, pretending to be thoroughly scandalized. "For shame! And here, I thought we were great friends, Red."

"You know you're not helping your case by acting like that, right?"

Blue shot him a weak glare before bursting into laughter, with Red following suit. Red shook his head before going to retrieve another bottle of water for Blue and a squirt bottle. When he came back, he sat everything down on the end table on Blue's side of the couch and grabbed a thick fluffy towel to drape over the back of the couch behind him. Then he motioned for Blue to sit up.

Blue wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. "I am sorry, Red, I cannot help but jest with you," he said. "I know I have a baby face. It can be frustrating at times."

"Just makes people underestimate you," Red said and handed Blue the bottle, "I'd imagine any shark that tried to take a bite out of you would be really insulted once it got thrashed for ever underestimating you. If it even saw you coming. I've seen how fast you move in the water. You're like a damn ninja!"

The mermonster seemed highly pleased by Red's explanation before looking at the bottle confusedly. "Any time you start to feel a little dry, just mist yourself down with that. The bag should hold everything in. Might not be the most comfortable thing ever, but until I find an extension cord, I can't exactly drag the TV into the bathroom."

Starry eyelights twinkled brightly as Blue spritzed his ectobody with the mister. It may have been a rudimentary plan but, after seeing how the tarp had worked, it had been worth a shot. Inadvertently, Blue's little misadventure that morning had helped flesh out Red's plans on how to travel with Blue in comfort in a way that would expose him the least. 

Satisfied, Red nodded to himself, counting that as a tentative success.

By the time Blue was comfy and damp, Red brought out a large bowl of popcorn and a drink of his own before joining Blue on the sofa. He snagged the remote from the coffee table in front of them and offered the bowl to Blue. 

Blue looked at the bowl of fluffy popped kernels in wonder before plucking one up to examine it. "What is it?

"Popcorn," Red told him, "it's made from the seeds of a plant from up here. I tossed a bit of salt and a little butter on it. I hope you can stomach a little dairy." Red doubted Blue had ever had anything with lactose in it before, but as most monsters he knew could stomach pretty much any food - monster or otherwise - so long as there was a bit of magic mixed into it, he hoped the same would go for sea monsters.

In typical Blue fashion, the mermonster beamed at the chance to try some food from the Surface and instantly popped the kernel into his mouth. Red watched him carefully. After all, what sort of friend would he be if he let his buddy eat something foreign to his diet without making sure he didn't suffer from some allergic reaction? He watched Blue's eyelights wink out for a moment before returning full force, filling their sockets as he started extolling the virtues of buttered popcorn before asking permission for another helping.

After seeing that Blue wasn't going to go into anaphylactic shock, Red raised the remote and pressed a button. The television lit up with static for a moment before Red was able to bring up the movie streaming service. Blue looked to him as he reached for another handful of popcorn.

"You remember the videos I showed you on my phone?" Red asked. Blue nodded. "Well, tonight, we're going to partake in an age-old tradition us Surface Dwellers like to call 'watching a movie'."

And with that, Red pressed play.

A little over an hour later, and Red was nearly in tears from holding back laughter.

He just couldn't help himself! Blue's reaction to "The Little Mermaid" was just too amusing! It was just a cartoon, but Blue got so into it that he Red spent more time watching the merman than he did watching the screen. It was unfortunate that the back of his couch had a few small holes poked into it from where Blue's spikes came out during the shark scene, but the thing was old and ratty anyway, so it wasn't _that_ big of a deal. Blue had started off asking questions about the animation (having never seen much of it before) and making comparisons here and there about what they got wrong about merfolk life, but eventually, Blue got so wrapped up in watching that he seemed to forget the world around him existed. Now, his eyes remained glued to the set as his hand remained forgotten in the now empty popcorn bowl, with his expression seeming a bit...goofier than normal.

Red lazily acknowledged the scene where the chef chased the mermaid's over-glorified babysitter around the kitchen, before hearing Blue speak.

"You see that?" the merman gestured to the screen. "That is the very mess from which I have been preventing Shimmer getting himself into! Except he cannot move that fast, nor would he even realize he was about to be cooked. I swear, put a bit of herring in front of that lobster and the thought centers of his brain cease to function!" 

Blue said all of this in the exasperated tone of a parent who had was running on two hours of sleep and who was in desperate need of a third cup of coffee. Red chuckled fondly.

"How is the little mooch?"

"As fat and happy as a lobster could be," Blue told him. "Although, a few days ago, I had to rescue him from another of your traps."

"But I just moved 'em!"

"Yes, but tell that to Shimmer," Blue said with a sigh. "At least it is just _your_ traps, now. He still manages to sneak out of whatever we put him in, but at least the only place he seems to sneak into belongs to a friend."

For a moment, it seemed as if Blue was about to add something else. Instead, there was an odd beat of silence before the sea monster turned his attention back to the movie, his words leaving the air charged with something that made the very atmosphere of the room shift. 

It made Red feel on edge, though not exactly uneasy. More that now, for some reason, the word "friend" left the very fiber of Red's bones buzzing with anticipation in a way they hadn't before - at least, he was starting to realize, perhaps not to this extreme. His words caught in his throat, jumbling together as broken thoughts devolved into unintelligible syllables daring to escape as the heavy, almost dizzying feeling from the strange moment they shared as Blue fell asleep earlier returned to him.

Red could feel his hands tremble slightly, forcing him to knit one in the fabric of his shirt to calm it while he reached for the bottle of mustard to sip on with the other. Was it his own imagination running wild with him? His usual self-deprecation battled fiercely with his own glaringly clear memory. Blue had just been falling asleep. He had been tired, and people say things and sound certain ways when exhausted.

But the _way_ Blue had looked at him and the warm and deep tone of his drowsy words dug into his core like the roots of an invasive weed, grasping at any and every hopeful thought (most of which Red didn't even realize he had) and yanked them hard enough to get his undivided attention.

The simple word "friend" had not changed, nor had the tone Blue used for it, but there was something in the way Blue said it now that made Red's bones prickle with sweat. Rather, Red's hearing had suddenly been programmed to pick up that word in particular, a signal to his brain that sent his entire mental processes into full Blue Screen of Death.

The only hope for a reboot? 

To hear Blue speak more and look at him.

As the sound of the crab with the Shimmer-like penchant for trouble began to strike up yet another song, Red felt emboldened. Blue's hand had fallen back into the empty popcorn bowl. His eyes focused on the screen in order not to betray his thoughts, Red tried desperately to keep his breathing even as he let his own hand slip down into the plastic, pretending to search for a loose kernel. His finger bones slipped over the handful of smooth, round seeds, continuing until they brushed over the warm bones of the other monster.

And then, he froze.

What was he doing?

What was he supposed to do now?

He hadn't thought this far. He had not planned this out well. His SOUL pounded in his chest as the almost electrical spark of touching what he shouldn't in a way he shouldn't flooded him. This was Blue. This was his _friend_. Just "friend"! 

But the way he spoke to him, the way he sounded, the way the air around them felt was making it harder and harder for Red to think logically. His panic paralyzed his movements, and it was only after about a minute that he realized his fingertips had been resting gently on the back of Blue's metacarpals.

Then, both his warring confidence and anxiety halted their battle as starry blue eyelights met his gaze.

"We're out of popcorn," Blue told him softly.

Red swallowed heavily. "Yeah, seems that way."

"Indeed."

And there was that same drowsy tone from earlier again. But Blue didn't look sleepy now. Rather, everything about him had softened, from his glaringly brilliant smile to his bright blue eyelights. Even the magical stars seemed to have a ephemeral glow to them now rather than the glittering sparkle that reminded him of sunlight on water.

Fuck, was he doing this?

Were they really doing this right now?

"You want me to make some more?"

"No," Blue said,"not unless you would like some."

"Nah, I don't want any...popcorn," Red gulped involuntarily, his own body leaning a little closer to Blue. Or was Blue coming yet closer to him? No, he was definitely leaning closer to Blue. He glanced briefly at Blue's mouth and was greeted with that same serene smile that had come to brighten his day, then back up to those brilliant eyelights trained on him.

Red knew he probably should have talked about whatever the hell had transpired between him and Blue earlier. He didn't know how the logistics of a relationship between the two of them would work. Blue was of the sea; Red was of the land. Blue wanted to perhaps bring sea monsters out of obscurity one day, while Red? Coming into the limelight with him would cause all sorts of problems, likely for the both of them. His anxiety, his self-hatred, his past - could he really damn Blue to dealing with all of that? Would Blue even want to stick around for any of that? 

But right now, he couldn't be damned to care about any of that.

Not when all he needed was just one sign that this was really okay, that Blue was fine with this, that Blue wanted this as much as he did...

  
Then Blue's fingers shifted, jolting Red into action. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the quite likely event that you all kill me before the next chapter, would you all be such gems as to take a look at my Tumblr? There are a couple of voiced comics and some funny stories over there that I haven't posted here. I also have plenty of audios on YouTube and will start uploading some funny stories there, soon, too!
> 
> I'm always open to suggestions, especially for motivational comics/audios which I would like to give a try!
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	12. CHAPTER TWELVE: "Only Fools Rush In"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A not-quite-so romantic interlude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!
> 
> crazycatscarmen over on Tumblr has made a TON of fanart of this story over the past few days, and I am delighted beyond all belief! Pleas,e go and check it out and leave the artist a pretty comment or two for me:
> 
> <https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/post/612082877661954048>
> 
> <https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/post/612086934412689408>

CHAPTER TWELVE: "Only Fools Rush In"  
—————————

The twitch of Blue's hands beneath Red's finger bones spurred Red to act on impulse, all possible consequences and results driven from his mind as he sought his goal. His eyes trained on Blue's smile, he turned over-

-Only to be nearly blasted from the couch at the sound of a cartoon seagull's attempts at singing.

Red yanked his hands back to cap over his ears as his shock sent him slamming into the back of the couch, his every nerve standing on end as the volume reached levels that surpassed even that of movie theaters.

After a moment of flailing around and knocking into Blue, Read realized he had rolled over onto the remote. With a growl, he yanked it out from under his thigh, pressing down so hard on the volume button that the sound died in a flash. The movie continued as the characters sang mutely, leaving Red's ears ringing as his SOUL pounding in his chest.

Once the realization that they weren't in any danger finally sank in, he heaved a sigh.

"You okay, Blue?"

Red looked over at the sea monster and grimaced. It looked as though Blue had initially tried to leap over the sofa before his spines, which must activated from the shock of the sound, popped out - effectively sticking him to the couch like a fishy cockleburr. More spiny fins now protruded from the remnants of his garbage bag, leaving it little more than a moist mass of shredded plastic. Blue had one arm thrown up in defense, spines out, covering his face while the other simultaneously shielded Red. 

Red's ears finally registered the gutteral hiss Blue had made as the volume tried to send them into outer space and was surprised the hear such a dangerous sound come from his friend. Red capped him on the shoulder, bringing Blue's head around at whiplash speed. Seeing Blue also without his stars unnerved him, but the ethereal rings that made up his eyelights now blazed with something so feral that Red felt his very SOUL frozen under their piercing glare.

Then, Blue blinked, and slowly his eyelights returned to normal. His teeth began to fill back out, making Red notice they had temporarily shifted into pointed spikes not unlike a shark's maw.

"Yes, I...am alright," Blue finally said. "Are you...?"

Red nodded. He felt his SOUL pulse as he noticed how close they were now. However, the sound of a seagull squawking at jet engine level decibels had robbed all intimacy from the room, so Red found himself less embarrassed and more concerned with getting his SOUL-pulse down to acceptable levels. He looked over to see Blue was still skewering his couch and offered his own weight for Blue to lean on until the merman could retract his spines.

Once he was back to bones and a nearly finless ectobody, Blue saw the damage he had done and profusely apologized. 

"Oh, no, look what I have done! Oh, Red, I am so sorry! Words cannot begin to describe-"

"Blue? Blue!" Red had to shout to get the merman to calm down. "It's alright. You didn't mean to, and it's not like this thing wasn't already headed to the dump anyway." Which was true. Red had gotten it for a steal from a thrift store because nobody had wanted the hideous thing, and had shaved fifty bucks off the price since Red was willing to haul it away that moment. Besides, he had already patched about three holes in it. What was a few more? "They just add character."

Blue was still upset over damaging Red's property, but he did calm down. "You are very forgiving, my friend."

Red looked over the shredded garbage bag that clung to Blue's tail, and then out the window. The sun was only just beginning to set, but the cloud cover that had rolled in during the evening made it seem later than it really was. Red sighed. 

"It's getting late," Red said. "There's still a little bit of the movie left to go, but I'm not sure if you want to be travelling in the water in the dark?"

The mermonster turned his gaze out the window and his expression soured briefly before he let out a wistful, "I suppose you are right. Perhaps I could return tomorrow and we could pick up from where we left off?"

His eyes were hopeful, and Red was not about to quash that hope. He nodded. "Sure."

Blue shucked off the remnants of the trash bag and slid into the floor to join it. As he maneuvered himself into the entryway of the kitchen, he turned to look at Red. "Shall we make for your vehicle?"

Red shoved himself off the couch and headed toward him. However, a quick thought entered his mind and he motioned for Blue to stop. Then, bending down, he hefted the sea monster into his arms, feeling the smooth arm bones that snaked around him, becoming hyper-aware of the joint where Blue's finger bones knit around one another by his neck for a better hold. 

The moment may have been ruined, but the delighted sparkle in Blue's eyes as Red hoisted him up was just enough to power a glimmer of mischief within him. 

Red grinned down at him. "I have a better idea. Hold on," he said, and Blue eagerly tightened his hold to bring himself closer to the other skeleton. Red adjusted his grip, allowing himself the brief moment to enjoy the silky warm ectobody beneath his hands, and hoped Blue could not feel the flutter in his SOUL as it pulsed against his rib cage.

Then, he allowed the magic to flare inside of him as he took a few steps forward.

Within moments, the wooden floor beneath his feet turned to sand and the heat of his kitchen winked out beneath a chilling gust of salty air. As the rush of the waves broke over his ankles, Blue jolted in his arms, shifting around and trying to take in the sudden change of venue, making Red cry out to him to stop so he wouldn't drop Blue.

"What the...How did...Red?!" 

Red just shrugged, turning Blue's confusion into a look of pure awe. He lowered his friend into the surf and dropped onto the sand, trying his best to ignore the frigid chill that crepy into his bones each time the water pulled back out to sea and left his exposed limbs bare.

"That was amazing, Red! How did you do that?" Blue practically bounced on the sand.

"Not sure," he said with a wink, "it's just a little trick I picked up."

A 'little trick', indeed! Red was damn proud of himself for being able to pull that one off. While it wasn't entirely his invention, being able to zip through time and space had become something of a secret specialty of his. Truthfully, it was his father who had helped him come up with the mechanics, but his old man had only ever been able to shortcut his way into a wall, and Red's mother had put a stop to such experiments after his father had yeeted himself through their bedroom window - _on the second floor_. Red dug out the old notes after his father passed and figured out how to do it himself, but he had never had the chance to show Edge before...well...

What mattered right now was that Blue seemed highly impressed by Red's briefly making quantum physics his bitch. While it was true that Blue got excited about a little of everything, he could not help but puff out his chest with pride at the thought he had personally managed to make the absolutely perfect specimen of a sea monster in front of him stare at him like THAT.

He turned and looked out over the horizon to gaze at the pinks and oranges now splaying themselves across the clouds. "Guess you best be getting home, huh?"

Blue glanced back over the water and smiled softly. "Yes, I suppose I must. It would not do to worry my brother. And besides, leaving him and Shimmer alone for too long is bound to lead to shenanigans that I fear I just do not have the strength for tonight!" He said this with dramatic flick of his tail, sending a spray of droplets up into the air, causing them to sparkle in the fading sunlight. Red chuckled warmly.

"So, tomorrow morning?"

"Indeed, my friend! I shall be here!"

The hefty weight of Blue's body slamming into him nearly bowled Red over, and he found his own hands clapping around Blue's back for purchase and the other skeleton's cervical vertebra slotted around his own. The embrace drew a heavy sigh from Read as he leaned into the hug, feeling the almost crushing pressure as Blue wrapped his arms around him. Red tightened his own grip, letting himself bask in the warmth of the other's body as the chill of the water and wind rushed around him.

"Red?"

Blue's voice was strangely soft next to his head, almost a murmur - a feat Red had not been sure was even possible until today. It caused his SOUL to flip at the sound as a tingling rush of magic bubbled beneath his bones, spreading across his body in a surge of strange happiness Red wanted dearly to wrap up and hide within him, taking it out every now and then to gaze at fondly - if one were able to make an emotion corporeal.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for being my friend," he said, "I have grown very fond of you, Red. Perhaps you may think my actions today a bit foolhardy, and, indeed, perhaps I did act a bit hastily after you did not appear for a few days, but I do care about you and worried when you had not even shown up to rebait your traps."

That was another thing the two of them had started doing together. Ever since Red learned Shimmer had been robbing his traps, he had let Blue take as he wanted from the traps (though Blue often paid him in whatever treasures he thought Red would like best). He supposed he had avoided the possibility of seeing Blue by even going out into the water, with the closest he came having been sneaking down to the shore that one frigid night to get his thoughts in order. He hadn't considered that Blue might become concerned about him if he didn't show up to add fresh bait.

He supposed he had been a fool over his fledgling feelings, after all.

"Promise me something?" Blue asked. Red smiled.

"I ain't one to normally make promises, Blue," he said with a sigh. But when he felt the other monster slightly tense at his words, he found himself instinctively adding, "but for you, I might make an exception."

Blue then pulled back away from Red and held him at arms' length. "You are my only friend from the Surface. Please promise me that you will let me know if you plan to disappear for a bit again? As much as I do enjoy your company, I know from what you have told me about your life that it can get fairly hectic. While I do admire your work ethic, I would also like to know that all is well with you."

Red's hands trembled in his lap, though whether more from the cold or the minor embarrassment at being put on the spot after neglecting Blue, he was not certain. He reached his hands up and brought them to Blue's wrists, slowly pulling them down toward his lap, the thumb of one hand sneakily brushing over where his pulse point would be. 

"I can do that," he said.

Blue smiled happily. "I will hold you to your word, Friend Red."

The setting sun only made the brilliant aquamarine of Blue's eyelights even more prominent, and suddenly, Red found the feeling of having Blue's wrists in his hands a paltry alternative to what they craved. An urge to reach up and cup the smooth bone of Blue's cheek struck him, and it was with no little effort that he finally allowed himself to release his grip.

With that, Blue said his goodbye and the two parted ways.

Had the chill of the autumn night not started to sink in, Red knew he would have stayed looking out over the water until long after the sun dipped below the waves.

He ported back into his house just in time to see his phone silently light up on the coffee table.

Red walked over and picked up the phone, only for his eyelights to shrink to pinprick size in a panic as he took in all of the missed calls, voicemails, and unread texts. Sufficiently jolted out of his thoughts, he nearly dropped the phone as it began to ring again, and when he saw the name of the caller, he knew he was in for it.

He swiped his thumb over the "Answer" option and brought it up to his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...If I may be granted a final request before you all kill me, might I suggest checking out my Tumblr?
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN: "Dinner For Two"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Red prepares a taste of Surface Dweller food for Blue, he starts to overthink.  
> His mysterious brother, Edge, is also mentioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, boy! Sorry I'm way late to the party on updating. Things have been CRAZY lately.  
> For those of you who haven't been following my Tumblr, I'll give you a quick rundown: 
> 
> 1) I'm still out in the workforce,  
> 2) I've been collaborating with LoveCakeBacon by doing podfics for their ongoing story,  
> 3) I'm running a blog with some awesome writer/artists over on Tumblr to bring information and positivity to folks stuck in abusive situations or are dealing with mental health issues during quarantine,  
> 4) Just generally running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to help out in other ways with some of my locals as well as people I know through Tumblr and Discord (not to mention checking in with family/friends across the globe).
> 
> That's the major overview of it all, plus a few minor audios and silly stories I've done over on Tumblr. I'm going to try to update once a week until I finish up both this and my RottenBerry fic, but please bear with me if my schedule is off because I've got my fingers in a lot of pots that are more important than my writing time right now. But I will do my best.
> 
> Anyway, check out my work with LoveCakeBacon here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22797556?view_full_work=true  
> And The KINDNESS BRIGADE blog here: https://kindnessbrigade.tumblr.com/

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: "Dinner For Two"  
————————

Autumn couldn't stave off the chilling grasp of winter for long, and the very next morning that Red went to collect Blue, he could see the sea spray had begun to freeze upon whatever it touched. The cliffside rocks glistened as the early morning sunlight cut through the thick gray fog, making him thankful for the warm ectobody he hoisted up into his arms for two reasons.

This time, Blue had brought Shimmer along, which meant the cheeky crustacean had to be confined to a large metal bowl filled with sea water most of the time. So long as Red could hear the scraping of tiny legs against the sides, he wasn't worried. When it came time for supper, however, and Blue wanted to try more dishes from the Surface, Red plunked Shimmer into the deep kitchen sink so that Blue could free himself from petsitting duty for a few moments.

Red chose a playlist from his phone and stuck it in the far corner of the counter away from potential accidents. Soft and mellow music drifted through the kitchen, the pounding of drums and lyrical reggae beat having been chosen to appease Blue (who would have listened to "Under the Sea" about twenty times on repeat if given control of the television) whilst still providing a bit of variety. The calmer instrumentals were a balm to his SOUL but still energizing enough that he found Blue swaying in time to the music as he filleted the fish chosen for their supper.

They gave Red a chance to think.

Beneath his well-entrenched anxiety lay the foundation of a scientist. His father, having been one himself, had passed on his analytical mindset and had tenderly cultivated a logician's view of the world in his two sons. While his brother was more of a strategist, Red himself was no slouch in the mental department. No, he reserved that honor solely for the physical realm - or he had before he met Blue and was forcibly yanked from his comfort zone with the force of a bullet train. 

Therefore, it was likely only through sheer muscle memory (pun very intended) that Red was able to push past his lingering mishmash of trepidation and excitement in order to put the facts together about just how feasible a relationship with Blue might be.

First of all, Red was never really the relationship sort of guy. Up until he was forced to relocate, his great loves in life fell into the realm of his relaxation time, his work, his few friends (also mostly work-related), and his brother. He had never really had much interest in moving beyond that scope of things. Oh, sure, he had given it a go. He had gone on dates with multiple colleagues but nothing had ever panned out - unless you counted him managing to matchmake some of his dates with one another.

With a snort, he realized what a strange result THAT had been, and shook his head. He was good at that sort of thing, though. People were like puzzles to him and, for the most part, he was a fairly good judge of character, so figuring out that this piece slotted nicely with that one so sparks would fly was easy enough. 

Now, though, seeing the way Blue wildly spun around on the little wheeled stool (Red had brought in from the garage to give Blue freer movement) after he had sliced up the fish in record time, the giddiest expression on his face the entire time, Red started to wonder if he was less the odd piece out and more along the line of having been finally relocated to the puzzle where he belonged.

Belonged.

Was that how it was?

The thought hadn't occurred to him before. No, he had been so wrapped up in his old life and his hasty departure from everything he had built that life around to consider that, maybe, things weren't really so bad now.

His new residence was more secluded than even his childhood home, despite both being in very rural areas. He no longer had the pressures he once had put on him, save the singular ultimate mission of preserving his own continued survival. He also enjoyed his new work, different as it was. His coworkers were made up of various personalities that strangely meshed well together. Though there were similarities between his old crew and the new, the smaller crew, despite being otherwise all human, accepted him into their fold in a way that he rarely felt around his former coworkers. They didn't hold him in a strange reverence. Neither did they view him with suspicion or keep him at arm's length. Rather, they yanked him into their own routine and now, he found himself the odd skeleton in - dare he say it? - the middle of their weirdly enough not-so-dysfunctional family.

Family.

That's what they were to him now, wasn't it? Ross, Janey, and-

He was suddenly yanked back to the present by the sudden presentation of fillets having been plopped down in front of him. Red looked over to see Blue's cheerfully grinning face.

"The fish is ready for preparation!" Blue announced. Red felt the slight tingle of magic dust across his cheekbones at the sea monster's close proximity, and let his frantic surprised spluttering die out before he made a fool of himself. Ignoring the creeping tingle on his face, he attempted to glower at Blue. 

It was completely ineffective.

"What are you doing?" Red gestured to the fish. "I could have cut you!"

Blue's smile softened. "Ah, but that would actually require you having to be holding the knife, Red! As you have not moved it since your initial cut into that pepper, I would assume there is enough cushioning surrounding it to prevent any danger."

Red looked down to see that, indeed, he still had the blade of his knife buried halfway into a large red bell pepper and blanched. Normally, he could do tedious tasks like preparing cutlets and chopping vegetables in his sleep, leaving his face to burn for another reason as he mentally kicked himself.

"Sorry, I guess I spaced out," Red said. He didn't tell Blue that the merman was affecting his thoughts to the point of disrupting his work. But, as the sea monster gently pulled the knife from his grasp and moved it aside, making Red's senses lock up and robotically go with however Blue moved him, he soon realized it likely would be far from the last time. He did, however, try to cover it up with a fake yawn to maintain at least some semblance of dignity.

"If you are too tired, Red, then perhaps we should make something easier," Blue offered helpfully. "After all, I would not want you to be setting your home ablaze with a cooking mistake."

Red snorted, now regretting having told Blue such an embarrassing tale. It wasn't his fault! How was he supposed to know his little brother would attempt to make un-sauced lasagna out of uncooked noodles and set their oven on fire while he was taking a nap? He was thirteen at the time, for the Angel's sake! He should have known better!

The gruffer skeleton picked up the fish-and-pepper-covered cutting board with a brusque huff and made his way over to the stove. "I am not too tired. Besides," he sat the board to the side and grabbed a knife, sliding the fish over enough so he could make quick work of the last pepper, "you wanted a taste of Surface Dweller food, yeah?" Blue nodded, prompting a half-smirk from Red. "Then let me show you how it's done!"

Red found himself able to remain on task easier when he was dealing with the soft blue glow of the gas-lit flames. The sizzle of butter in the pan as the onions, garlic and peppers cooked down fascinated Blue, as did the color of the fire beneath the skillet ("It looks almost like my magic, Red!"). His thoughts drifted but not so much that he allowed the fish to burn once introduced to the concoction.

He wondered how humans and land monsters would receive the existence of sea monsters. Oh, sure, there were some aquatic monsters, but they were few and far between, and he only knew of a couple that could actually live in both salty and freshwater. In fact, apart from skeletons and a handful of other monsters, most monsters needed to breathe air, so passing Blue off as just any other monster might be difficult. Most monsters honestly would not have a problem with it today, especially if all merfolk were like Blue and his brother. However, humans _might_. Red recalled historical tales of land monsters joining together to help human sailors stave off colossal sea monsters, which were said to be nothing but sentient animals hellbent on destruction.

Of course, they were likely tales concocted by humans to keep their children from wandering too close to the sea alone or to scare reckless new sailors, but it still added a stigma he was worried Blue and his kin might face.

Just how numerous WERE sea monsters, anyway?

That was another problem. Humans might look at a large population that lurked beneath the waters as much of a threat as in their old folktales. While he wanted to believe some humans would be happy to work in tandem with the merfolk to help clean up the oceans and to learn more about the murky depths they could not yet peruse, anything unknown could scare them into taking foolish, violent measures.

Especially those in authority.

 _Most_ especially those in authority.

Even if most humans accepted the concept of sea monsters right off the bat, there was still the problem of what attention it would bring. 

And that sort of attention was absolutely the _last_ thing Red needed right now...

Red masked his sigh by pretending to inhale the scent of the cooking meal and motioned for Blue to do the same. The sea monster almost seemed to melt at the smell of melting butter, but when coupled with the choice vegetables and seared fish? Well, if the image of a half-lidded Blue and the thoroughly pleased moan that came out of him caused Red to nearly burn his wrist on the side of the skillet, well, then, that was his secret to tell, wasn't it?

He couldn't stop the satisfied grin that spread across his own face with wild abandon as he saw the elation in those blue stars when they returned. Lifting the pan out fo the way of Blue's attempt to swipe an uncooked piece of fish, Red waved the spatula threateningly at Blue, who merely pouted and protested a little raw fish would not hurt him in the slightest. Of course, Red knew this, having been a guest at Blue's own home and seeing how the duo coped without the use of heating implements, but he wasn't about to let Blue spoil his own appetite when he was trying to impress him.

Red sent Blue off to clean up the island counter and grabbed a couple of bottles from the rack above the stove, drizzling in some of the liquids to add both magical and flavorful flare to his dish. The result caused a hiss of green and white steam to rise from the pan in a mushroomlike cloud, leaving behind a pair of glistening fillets and a rich, savory odor.

With a satisfied nod of his head, Red moved the fish and veggie medley to a couples of plates and, giving each a small squeeze of lemon juice over the top before bringing them over to where Blue sat.

"Already, Blue," he said, sliding the plate in front of the hungry merman with a flourish, "dig in."

With a grin as eager as always, Blue thanked Red before doing just that. He watched amusedly as Blue carefully munched upon a morsel of the fish, his starry eyelights soon widening to glow with a brilliant phosphorescence as the flavors kicked in. Red cocked a knowing half-smirk at him and raised a bone brow. 

"Good?"

His reply came in the form of a vigorous nod before Blue began to dive into his meal in earnest. If Red's chest swelled with any more pride upon seeing that display, he was certain he would be needing a new shirt.

"My stars, Red! Wherever did you learn to cook like this? Is all Surface Dweller food this wonderful?" The other skeleton chuckled as one taste of Red's cooking had sent Blue straight into a state of nirvana.

"Just a little something my old man taught me when I was a kid," Red told him before he sliced off a piece of filet for himself. He popped the morsel into his mouth and savored the savory taste of buttery sauce-drenched fish. It wasn't the best considering the peppers were getting a bit wrinkled and the onion flavor outpaced the garlic, but it was still good.

"Your father taught you how to cook?"

Red nodded. "He had to. Pops worked a lot, so once I got to be of a certain age, it was up to me to take care of my brother when I got home from school sometimes. My bro was a real picky eater when he was a babybones, so Pops had to come up with something to disguise the flavor."

Making quick work of his peppers, Blue's curiosity was suddenly peeked and he blurted out, "I recall you mentioning you had a brother before! Do you have any other siblings?"

The other skeleton shook his head. "Nah, just me and my little brother, Edge."

Plate cleaned (when had that happened?), Blue sat aside his utensils and propped his chin up in his hands. "Tell me about him, please."

"Actually, I'll do you one better," Red said, pushing himself up from the table. He sauntered into the living room for a moment before returning with the photograph he kept over his fireplace. He then dragged his stool around to where Blue sat to show him. "Here, see for yourself."

Red almost didn't want to hand over the framed photo, seeing as how it was one of the few ones he still had, but upon seeing how gingerly Blue cradled the picture and the look of utter delight on his face (if not a bit of awe), he slowly let the frame slide from his fingers. 

"This is your brother?" Red nodded. 

"That's my little bro."

"Wowie," Blue said gleefully, "your brother looks so cool! The uniform is quite dashing, too, I may add."

Red couldn't help the fond grin that spread across his face as Blue handed him back the photo. His eyelights roved over the formal military dress his brother had donned for a ceremony in which he had received an award for bravery. Edge may have seemed stony faced to most, but Red knew the slight uptick of his grin and the puffing out of his chest a bit more than usual belied the emotion his younger brother was desperately holding back. Red himself swelled with pride as the medal had been pinned on his brother's chest that day, and he had more than done his duty of elder brother by proceeding to embarrass the hell out of Edge by introducing himself as "brother of the war hero" for the rest of the day.

He didn't realize he had relayed the story aloud until Blue spoke again, jarring him back to his senses. "He really does sound cool!"

"Heh, he sure is," Red said, giving one last fond gaze at the photo before the inevitable bitterness started to lap at his mood. He tried to lighten himself up by moving around on the stool, leaning back against the counter and donning a cocky grin. "And, as you can see, he finally learned to eat his vegetables."

Blue laughed. 

"Is he still in the military then?"

Red shook his head. "Nah. He was going to make a career of it, but after a few tours, he applied to be discharged. Decided his place was on the home front, so to speak. Talked like he was going to be a cop for a while, but he wound up working security detail at a concert hall until a celebrity took a liking to him. Now he's like advanced security for a musician."

"You mean like a bodyguard?" 

"Something like that," Red grinned. "Though, I'm thinking the guy who got him the job wishes he was a little more than that for him, if you get my drift," he said, finishing up his story with a wink. 

"Just a moment, Red! Are you telling me a famous musician fell for your brother?"

This made Red chuckle. "Actually, the guy he works security for is actually the cousin of the guy who got him the job. Not that I could blame either of them. Just look at that handsome mug!"

If Edge had any idea Red was singing his praises like this, he would never live it down. But Red had practically raised Edge, so his brotherly pride still bordered on paternal, and those weren't feelings that were going to go away overnight. Or ever. It didn't matter if he was hundreds of miles away from him in the middle of podunk Nowheresville. Those feelings burned as brightly within him as the last time he saw his brother.

Before the sadness could creep back into him, Red heard Blue speak again. 

"Yes, I can see the family resemblance."

"Really?" Red raised a brow bone. "Yeah, okay, maybe the same socket structure and nasal bones, but we really don't look that much alike. I look like Mom and he took back after Dad's side of the family. About the only think we have in common is the same dogged stubbornness."

Blue's eyelights moved across the photo once more before he looked slightly askance.

"I actually meant that, while I can see where you would say you brother is handsome, it is quite obvious that the both of you are not lacking in attractive features. Though, if he is anything like his elder brother, I can see why others would find him so fetching."

Boy, if Red's face hadn't been burning before, it certainly was now. He did his best not to lock eyelights with Blue and fidgeted in his seat, his voice and gestures growing bolder as he could feel the beads of sweat prickle across his hands and forehead. "Heh, yeah, I mean who wouldn't want a piece of this?" he said, sitting the photo onto the counter the counter between them before doing a sweeping flourish with one arm across the rest of his corpus. It was all in good play, though. Red didn't feel he was ugly but he certainly wasn't getting a ton of free drinks the moment he sat down at the local bar, either.

Blue, however, seemed just as eager to play along as he did with any of Red's ideas. "You must have many admirers then."

Red snorted. "Oh, yes, so many admirers! They just come crawling to me all the time because they can't get enough of this Grade-A Choice Skeleton. Oh, wait," he finished with a grin, thumbing over toward the sink where a certain lobster still resided, "nah, it's just 'cause he likes the free herring."

He began chuckling at his own joke and caught a glimpse of Blue staring at him out of the corner of his eyes, making his laughs come a bit more forced as he registered the softening of starry eyelights and smile.

"Come now, Red, you have more admirers than Shimmer."

The aforementioned skeleton swallowed heavily, realizing that Blue had not turned his gaze from him since he had accidentally made eye contact.

"Heh, yeah? Name one."

Looking over at Blue made his bones heat up, a creeping warmth spreading so fast across them that, had he hair on his person, it likely would have stood up. Skeletons most certainly did not get goose flesh, but in that moment, as he found it difficult to still the rising palpitations of his SOUL, he could venture as guess as to what it felt like. The soft, focused expression of the other monster caused his mind to bottom out. Rather than try to differentiate between the various levels of discomfort, elation, and an assortment of other emotions, his brain had shut down before it could identify a single one.

And for good reason, too. The two previous moments that evening had brought him very close to a precipice he wasn't sure he should be overlooking, and though a good prat of him wanted to slowly start descending that cliff, his bones began to quietly rattle at the thought.

Blue's smile widened and, stars, wait, was his face suddenly bluer now or was that the lighting? That had to be the lighting.

"Well, I do, Red. I admire you."

Yes, 'admire'. Like platonically. Just how good buddies should feel, back pats and all of that. No watching your friends sleep in a steamy bathroom with just the two of you in there together, or feeling all of your senses standing at attention because he was just sitting beside you and you could feel that warmth so, _so_ close.

Red's mind started to backpedal as nervousness wriggled its way past his mental barriers, insisting that it wasn't still too late to pull back, they could just be friends, there wasn't any reason to ruin what they had going on!

Then there was a hand on his face and-

Red's movement knocked the picture frame into Blue's fork and plate, startling him both out of the reverie. With all of his senses screaming at him to just turn around and finish what he started, he almost swore, but the idea he might have damaged the photo of his brother sent him into a panic. Half-falling from his stool, he lunged out, unable to be comforted until he had wiped away the dollop of butter sauce that had dripped onto the glass and saw no further harm had been done.

With a relieved sigh, he apologized to Blue. "I should go put this away before I break it."

Blue stopped him before he could go. "Red, are you alright?" He refused to remove his hand from Red's wrist until he was satisfied that Red' breathing had returned to normal (even if his terrified SOULbeat had not).

Realizing he likely had a look of abject horror on his face, Red patted Blue's hand with the side of his hand as he didn't want to let go of the frame now safely back in his grasp. "I'm fine, just thought I broke it. Don't have a lot of photos of my brother so...yeah."

The sea monster's expression turned to that of understanding. "I can see why it would be so precious for you then. Perhaps when you see him again, you can take more photos, too? I would love to meet someone so dear to you."

Red could almost feel the depression sock him in the SOUL at that. "Oh, Blue, I wish it were that easy."

Blue looked at him in confusion. "Why is that?"

A pang ran through Red's chest as he looked down at the portrait, remembering his brother's face the last time they ever spoke.

"I can't...it's complicated."

The mermonster smiled empathetically. "Are you two not on good speaking terms at the moment?"

A sardonic, hollow snort of a laugh escaped Red. "You could say that, I guess." 

Fuck, why was he saying this? He didn't need to be saying this. He needed to cap a lid back on that can of worms before he went too far.

He gently pulled himself from Blue's grasp and headed toward the living room.

A comforting voice stopped him.

"Red?"

He turned back to Blue, seeing that ever-present smile and all of the emotions that came with it. "Yeah?"

"If you ever want a mediator between the two of you, I would be happy to do so."

A tiny light welled up within his internal darkness, and warmth once again began to mingle with his heavy sadness. He doubted his brother would want to speak to him after what he did. Even if Red had felt it was the only way at the time, there still had to have been better ways to part company, things he should had done, ways he should have responded...

Looking at Blue's expression, he remembered why he was here.

Why he needed to distance himself from his brother and his past.

But would Blue understand?

"I'll think about it," Red said, before setting back out on his mission to return his most sacred treasure to its rightful place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I robbed you all of that oh-so-desired kiss once again! Bwahahah! Don't worry, it's coming. Also, I just want to thank you all so, so much for your lovely comments and continued reads of this. I know I've been late to updating but you have no idea how happy that makes me. Thank you all so much, and please, hang in there.
> 
> Want the scoop on other projects I'm doing? Care to see some goofy art, read funny stories, and listen to some character audios not found here? Just want to chitty-chat with your favorite podficcer? Then drop by my other sites for some extra fun:
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> THE KINDNESS BRIGADE (for COVID-19 positivity and information to those stuck in dire straits): https://kindnessbrigade.tumblr.com/


	14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN:  "Are You Just Going to Let Him Go Like That?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue's visit draws to a close as a storm rolls in.  
> Now, which is greater - the storm outside or the one within Red?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It literally took me writing on three different versions of this chapter before I finally tapped a vein in the creative mine. Sorry it's taking so long to get back onto these updates, but I am still doing a lot of work over on Tumblr and IRL. 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!
> 
> (Also, by popular demand, Mer!Blue is now nicknamed Sushi. I'll find a way to slip that in here more often)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: "Are You Just Going to Let Him Go Like That?"  
——————————

Remembering his final parting with his brother caused Red's already compromised energy to tank, so it honestly did not come as a surprise to him to find that he had gotten only about five minutes into their second movie of the evening before he crashed. As he watched the antics of the human-voiced puppets on the television screen, his eyelights began to wane and the bony plates that made up his eyelids slowly began to droop. He had tried his best to stay awake and explain bits of Surface entertainment to Blue, but the pop culture references on the long-since outdated variety show Janey had given him were almost as foreign to him as they were to his sea monster companion. The lack of mental stimulation and movement caused his answers to slow to mere rumblings until, finally, he let himself slip into the comfortable darkness that awaited him.

When his dreamless slumber drew to a close, he did not open his eyes right away. Rather, the warmth of sleep still enveloped him and, though his mind was still at rest, subconsciously, he hesitated to rouse himself back to the realm of Emotional Turmoil. All he knew was that the heat from his own body had certainly made for a cozy spot he had fallen into, and all he wanted was to bask in it for as long as he could.

Eventually, half-formed thoughts began to visualize in the darkness behind his eyelids. The flash of a smile. A vague glimpse of a semi-fishlike silhouette gently swimming above him, the sparkling sunshine sending a golden shimmer across the aquamarine plane of the surface. Bubbles around him turning from open ocean into large reinforced glass tanks. Then stepping, stepping through sterilized rooms of white, gray and dark blue, slowly passing faceless, voiceless shapes of both monsters and man as he approached a catwalk surrounded by metal railings. He passes them all, slowly striding forward as if wading through knee-high jello, and up, up, up to the highest catwalk overlooking a giant pool. There's an enormous metal something. He knows what it is but it slips from his memory like sand through his fingers. A gauge appears before him, comically large in his mind's eye. That needle should not be hovering over red. He takes note of where a wheel should be and reaches out, shoving back the faceless figures sharing the catwalk with him before he hefts himself over the side of the railing, 

falling, 

plummeting, 

down, 

down, 

down...

Steam rises around him, but it does not scald his bones nor sting his eyes. The strong surge of vaporlike geysers quickly dwindle off and become a soft haze, thick and nearly opaque. His feet are suddenly on tile, the blue of the pool now replaced by a yellow incandescence. The steam abates slightly, and now, he sees the supine form of of a reclining skeleton monster. 

Red finds the bones of his hand mingled with those of another, the steam obscuring them just so that they almost seem to merge, with Red unable to tell where his arm ends and the other's begins. He flexes his hand and, for the first time since the darkness abated, he can hear sound. A deep rumbling - a chuckle, perhaps? He likes the sound, so he squeezes the hand in his grasp once again in hopes it would exude the same. He is rewarded for his efforts and the sound now booms thunderously loud, rumbling not just in his ears, but throughout his bones. He feels a warmth constrict around him, his chest boiling over with a giddiness he has not felt in what feels like many, many years.

When the voice resounds again, he feels an intense heat collect at the top of his forehead for a brief moment, and that, for whatever reason, causes his SOUL to pulse with a surge so strong that it jars him straight from his slumber, sending the images around him scattering as his dreams scurry away into the night.

It took him a moment to realize his eyes were now wide open and that the bright light around him was coming from the overhead fixture in his den. His SOUL no longer throbbed, but there was a continued sweet ache deep inside his rib cage. He attempted bring his hand to his chest to rub at the spot, but found that it met with some resistance. Upon looking down, he saw that his hand lay in his lap, the phalanges of another skeletal hand intertwined among his own finger bones.

Red shifted slightly and felt something soothingly rub up along his arm, turning slightly to see yet another hand moving up and down the fabric of his sweater sleeve.

Still not quite sure what these strange sights were, it wasn't until Red looked up from where he had slouched to see that slumber was not the only warm embrace he had fallen into.

Blue eyelights shone down at him from under half-lidded eyes. "Did you sleep well, Red?"

Too tired to think of a proper response, Red merely answered him in the affirmative. "Sorry, hadn't meant to use you as a pillow like that," he told Blue. The mermonster regarded him with a fond smile. 

"You must have been very tired, my friend."

Red couldn't argue with that. "Yeah, I guess. Er, hope I didn't do anything weird." He recalled from his younger years that he was often quite clingy in his sleep, which often clashed with Edge, who like to toss and turn like he was more turbine than monster. After waking up to a tiny flailing babybones who had gotten his little fist jammed into his brother's eyesocket, Red's father had finally gotten an extra bed for his sons to sleep separately.

Blue merely chuckled. Red recognized that as the rumble he must have heard in his sleep, albeit at a much less earthshaking tone.

"Well, you did squeeze my hand a few times," Blue told him, a mischievous gleam in his eyes, "though I did not mind."

At this, Blue gave a similar squeeze for reassurance.

Loathe as he was to pull away, sleeping in such an awkward position had left Red feeling stiff. Reluctantly, he pulled away from Blue and stood, popping his back. His eyes landed on the television and realized that the volume had been turned very low. He looked back at Blue, puzzled, and thumbed toward the set.

"What happened with the sound?"

"I did not want to disturb you, so I turned it down."

"You didn't have to do that," Red told him. He was still too groggy to register feelings properly, but a tiny twinge of guilt at ruining part of Blue's visit by being a bad host made its way to the surface. "I can sleep with that thing on."

"Yes, well," Blue said, "it was not nearly as entertaining without your explanations, my dear friend."

Red scratched the back of his skull and glanced at the TV. "Honestly? With this stuff, I'm not much help. Apart from some of the jokes, a lot of the references go over my head from how old they are. I don't even know who half those actors are," he said as he went over to pull the video disc from the player. "Guess it goes to show not all oldies are goldies. Next time, I'll show you the more recent movies. At least those are a lot more fun. There's one I'm pretty sure you'll like. It's all pirates and action and a heckuva lot funnier than this stuff."

He emphasized his distaste for the video by waving the collected disc for emphasis. As he was putting the DVD away, he looked up at the clock and took in the time before telling Blue a channel sequence to type into the remote.

A moment later, on clicked the local television station, right at the start of the weather broadcast. His eyes narrowed as he took in the elliptical rings denoting strong wind patterns off the coast. He gestured for Blue to turn up the volume as he stood.

As he listened to the babbling of the meteorologist, his grin tipped down into a frown.

"Looks like Ross was right," he murmured.

"What did you say, Red?"

The aforementioned skeleton turned and nodded back toward the screen. "After you left last night, my coworker - that human chick, Janey? She called me. Everybody's been talking about how we're supposed to get a nor'easter soon, but she said our boss' leg was acting up, and he claims it always does that before we get a big storm. Guess they were right."

He decided not to mention how Janey had pretty much been ready to tear into him for ditching her. He could normally keep his calm since he was used to his brother's constant emotional theatrics, but the idea he might lose his job (a can of worms he really did not need to open) made him slightly panic, and he just blurted out enough facts to sound plausible and get Janey off his back. In the end, his coworker and boss had both been more concerned than annoyed with his sudden and unexplained departure, and Janey wound up being more focused on making sure he was not going to be on the road and had enough supplies before the big storm hit.

"I know what a nor'easter is!" Blue chimed in. "Normally, we are not bothered by the sediment that washes down from the Surface, and while there is some refuse, there are always interesting trinkets that get washed down from the shore by the flooding. I love to go scavanging once the waters stop-"

Blue's sentence ended abruptly in a small clipped "oh". Red looked at him with concern. "Are you alright, Blue?"

The merskeleton's sunny disposition had fallen somewhat. "Oh, yes, I am fine. Only...the waters get so choppy near the Surface during storms, and ones this time of year often bring ice. I may not be able to come and visit you for a while."

Oh.

A few weeks ago, Red might not have had a problem with that. Even earlier during the week before he was slapped in the face with his growing attraction to the little mer, the idea he might not have seen Blue for a while would have just felt like any other week. After all, they usually only met two or maybe three times a week. Now, however, Red felt discontent gnawing at his unseen innards at the thought of being without exposure to the person who had quickly become his personal ray of sunshine.

And, with the way that storm looked and how cold the winds off the sea had been blowing lately? Red was likely to be snowed in for a few days, at least.

Red turned back to the television and saw that it would be early morning before the storm was likely to reach their part of the coast. With a sigh, he turned back to Blue, stuck out his chest, and put on a cocky smile.

"Well, then," he said, "I guess we're just going to have to make this time count."

Systems recharged with a bit of coffee and a few magical energy supplements, Red proceeded to make good on his word. He didn't exactly host many people at his house, so the only forms of entertainment he owned pretty much boiled down to television, fishing, and an old laptop he had. He managed to find a dart board and some rather rusty darts that were left behind by the house's former owners, but after Blue got excited and sent one of his darts clean through the board and the sheetrock behind it, Red decided they should probably switch to something a bit less destructive.

With Blue's help, he threw together enough supper for the two of them with plenty of leftovers for Blue to take back to Stretch. They spent the rest of the evening watching a few videos of various things Red was able to dig up on the internet, as well as talking about inconsequential things. Over time, Red realized he was just prattling on, asking Blue even the simplest hypothetical questions that came to his mind, if only to keep him talking. Time passed far quicker than either seemed to like, but in the end, the increasing winds and darkening skies outside signaled that Blue should likely leave soon. Knowing how much he loved his bathtub, Red drew Blue another bath so he would be as warm as possible when he was ready to leave.

While Blue used Red's bathroom as his own personal sauna, he sat on the couch with Shimmer scratching at the bottom of the stainless steel pot in Red's lap. His basket lay on the table beside the knapsack of food - as well as the bowl Shimmer had been in earlier. He was thankful he hadn't fallen asleep holding it, but wondered how Blue had not noticed that his pet had slowly been clipping away at the rim of the bowl. Usually, Blue was so attentive to Shimmer, and he highly doubted that his playing as Red's pillow would have kept him from scolding said lobster (who had been within arm's reach).

"How did you even clip through that thick of plastic, huh?" Red said, glowering down at the crustacean. Shimmer merely clicked one of his claws in response. If Red didn't know any better, he would say the lobster was being a smartass.

He noticed that Shimmer seemed a bit bigger than when Red first sprang him from one of his traps. His shell, too, seemed bumpier and crustier, almost glittering in the light of the den. He reached in and ran a finger bone over the back, feeling that the once smooth plating did, indeed, feel rougher. 

Perhaps he was about to shed? Red knew lobsters shed their exoskeletons (a concept that seemed strange to someone who didn't exactly have more than one skeleton on his person). It would likely explain why the little moocher's appetite seemed to be growing lately.

"Growing into quite a big fella, ain't ya'?" Red said as Shimmer shifted around in the bowl some more. "You get any bigger and you might just evolve into a unicorn. You've got the coloring for it."

Shimmer did not seem to know what a unicorn was, but he did move slightly so Red could scratch a spot between the side of his carapace and tail. Red chuckled slightly at the spoiled pet, his smile slowly dipping as he looked up at the clock. He sighed.

Blue wasn't leaving forever, so why did ever second that ticked closer to his departure eat at him so badly? He had felt loneliness when his brother followed his boss on tour, and even more when Red had moved to this place. Yet as he gazed around the empty room, the slight sounds of sloshing water coming from the bathroom and the howl of the increasing wind outside, the cozy little house now felt austere and cold. Everything seemed much too sharp to him. The overhead light was blinding, the walls too barren, the rooms too wide and empty. Even the couch, old and lopsided as it was, now felt far too large for just one person, and the distinct lack of a warm ectobody near him caused the chill seeping through his coat and sweater to feel that much more poignant.

Shimmer shifted beneath his finger, prompting Red to move it and give the lobster one last scratch on the head.

"I'll miss you, too, buddy," he told the pet.

Presently, he moved the pot aside and placed Shimmer into his basket. A few moments later, Blue made his appearance by opening the door and jettisoning himself across the room on his spinning stool. He coasted to a stop against the back of the couch and looked up at Red as the skeleton shuffled on the backpack.

"Ready?" Red asked as he handed Shimmer and his basket to Blue. With an affirmative nod, Red reached down and scooped up the mermonster, feeling one of Blue's arms wrap around his neck for support. Then, taking a deep breath and summoning his magic, he took a few fateful steps and watched as the bright room morphed into the dreary seascape, a powerful gust of wind blasting them both as he walked down to the shore.

Sitting Blue gently down, he shucked off the knapsack and gave it to Blue. For once, Blue's natural outside voice came in handy as the intense wind and roar of the tumultuous waves crashed behind them.

"Everything all there?" Red yelled above the thundering din. Blue gave a quick glance inside the pack before slipping it on. 

"Yes, it is all there! Thank you again, Red!"

"Don't mention it," Red said. He stared at Blue for a moment, his hands finding their way to his coat pockets after a moment of being unsure what to do with them. "It looks rough. Will you be able to make it home okay?"

Blue just grinned, his bandanna flying wildly around his neck. "The Magnificent Blue will be just fine!"

Red couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm sure you will be."

The two stared at one another for a moment before Blue looked out toward the waves. "I guess this is goodbye for now, huh?" Blue turned back around.

"I suppose so."

Another beat of silence between them. Red wanted to say more, wished there was a way for Blue to stay longer. If his magic didn't start to act funky after being underwater for more than twelve hours, Red might have asked to go along with him. Allowing the wind to cover his sigh, he picked up Shimmer's basket and handed it to Blue.

"Guess you better get this little guy home before he becomes a lobster-cicle."

As Blue reached for the basket, his hands clapped over Red's, holding the basket between them for a few moments longer than necessary. But the wind was strong and the waves were slowly starting to push higher and higher up the beach, and Red knew he had to say goodbye. HE let his hands slip from the basket and took a few steps back.

"See you in a few days?" he asked.

Blue nodded. "I will be here. Goodbye...my dear friend."

Red swallowed, willing away the throb of his SOUL as he nodded. "Bye, Blue."

With that, Blue hugged the lobster basket to his chest and began shifting his way down toward the rolling waves. As Red watched Blue shift along, he could feel his SOUL beat harder, words welling up inside him, clashing with his conflicting anxiety. Was that really how he was going to leave him? Letting him just head home with a simple "bye"? Just like that? Like he hadn't watched his friend sleep, or saw that damnably brilliant smile every time he closed his eyes?

...

.....

...

"...Aww, _to hell with it!_ " 

Red darted down toward the water, waving and shouting right as Blue was about to dive in. Thankfully, the other managed to hear him as he skidded to a stop, slipping in the wet sand and falling right on his rear. Blue was by him before Red could even shuck the wet sand now gobbed onto his pants. As the merskeleton sat aside Shimmer's basket and tried to help pull Red up, the Surface Dweller clapped a hand onto Blue's upper arm.

"Blue?" he said loudly, trying to ignore his the wind yanked at the furred hood of his coat by focusing on the glowing aquamarine eyelights in front of him.

"Yes, Red?"

Swallowing heavily, Red said, "There's a lot you don't know about me, and I have no idea how we would make any of this work," he gestured between the two of them, "but if you'll let me, I...Blue, I want...I..."

A skeletal hand came up to cup his cheek. Red's free hand moved of its own accord, coming to rest atop Blue's own.

"Red?"

"Y-yeah, Blue?"

The mermonster leaned in close, eyelights shimmering with a brilliance that enraptured the nervous skeleton.

"You worry too much."

Every sense in his body tingling, his SOUL thudding loudly enough to nearly drown out the waves, Red shakily breathed out a hoarse laugh. "Blue?"

Blue's smile widened. "Yes, Red?"

Red gulped. "May I... _please_...?"

That glimmer of mischief sparkled in Blue's eyes, making the stars glimmer like tiny beacons.

Slowly, his smile spread almost to the breaking point and he gave a slow, clear nod.

Then there, shadowed by the dreary skies and treacherous seas, both mired in sandy sludge as the frigid waves broke around them, two forms collided, faces melding together as the darkening night blanketed their figures. And for one long, treasured moment, it was difficult to tell where one skeleton began and the other ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Red get a forehead kiss while he was asleep? You bet he did!  
> Also, yes, I referenced the old 70s Muppets in this, which I actually like, but I will admit, a lot of references in that show are seriously outdated.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> THE KINDNESS BRIGADE (for COVID-19 positivity and information to those stuck in dire straits): https://kindnessbrigade.tumblr.com/


	15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN:"Nor'easters and New Hopes"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a huge snowstorm, Red returns to work and basks in the aftermath of starting a relationship with Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update! It's been pretty crazy here, and I just got into a writing funk. I didn't want to take away from the quality of the work I've been presenting you all, so I hope you don't mind.
> 
> And hey, it looks like some places are finally getting out of quarantine! So that's nice! I hope you all continue to stay safe and healthy.
> 
> Also, just as a funny, a pal of mine found a typo in the last chapter that I now have to leave in because the joke was just too freaking funny not to. I'm not above self-deprecating humor, so here, feel free to join in: https://crazycatscarmen.tumblr.com/post/615949168182231040/readwithdetermination-feeling-a-little

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:"Nor'easters and New Hopes"  
————————————

The nor'easter was just as bad as the weather report had promised. Over the course of the next three days, the winds howled and freezing rain beat down against his windows, pinging with sheets upon sheets of sleet. It battered Red's house so much that he was honestly concerned that the walls of the old house might cave in. Thankfully, the foundation was strong, and though Red could scarely see through the window of his back door at times (the rest of the windows having been boarded up where shutters were unavailable), the house remained intact. Eventually, the rain turned to blinding snow, which continued well through the night of the third day.

Finally, when it was all over, Red stepped outside to access the damage. Armed with a snow shovel and a minor bout of cabin fever, he stepped out, kicking at the thick powder that lay scattered across the covered porch.

It was perhaps due in part to the very tall, steep pitch of the roof that most of the wind had been deflected from the the area, and he was thankful for that. After all, he did not relish in the thought of teleporting out into what might have been a snowbank taller than himself. He slid a bit against the thick layer of ice that coated the outermost planks, catching himself before he faceplanted into the nearly two feet of snow that now blanketed everything as far as the eye could see. 

As he made his way around the house, he took note of the way the water had flash frozen around the posts and wires at the base of the nearby power line poles, leaving sharp streaks like flags proclaiming Winter's First Conquest of the season. Using a combination of shoveling and bone attacks braced together in a shield to carve out a path for his car, he was met by one of his few neighbors - an elderly farmer who lived a few miles up the road. He was thankful the man was will to clear the road with a tractor, as he did not relish the thought of doing the bone shield shoveling method all the way into town.

He was fortunate to have grown up in a region well-known for its intense winter weather, so making it into work was no problem for the skeleton monster. The people of the town, too, were very used to taking brutal beatings from winter, so Red was not surprised to see most of the town out and about by the time he pulled up to the shop.

He was in the process of turning the key in back doorway when he felt something impact the back of his head. 

As cold bits of snow rained down over his head, he whirled around in time to see Janey double over into giggles, with Ross standing nearby, his mustache-covered lips pulled back into a smirk he was trying desperately to stop.

Feeling a glimmer of mischief rise up within him, Red chuckled lowly before turning to face his coworkers. "Oh, Janey~?"

The human raised up from her fit of laughter in time to catch a look of pure malicious glee spread across Red's face. In an instant, his hand shot out, causing a wall of bones to spring up from the ground, slinging an entire two feet of snow onto Janey. The woman let out a shout as she went sailing backwards, arms flailing as she slammed into a mound of snow piled up by the passing snow plows. Ross let out a noise akin to a strangled elephant as he watched Janey wheel her arms about, scrambling to sit up and spitting snow out. She wiped her visor off with a flourish, gaping open-mouthed at Red like she could not believe what he had done.

Red just let out a short laugh before nodding to his manager. "'Morning, Ross."

Ross' smile turned pleased and he returned the nod. "Good to see you back in action, son." He looked down at Janey, who still gaped for a moment before throwing her arms up with a happy squeal and falling backwards into the snowbank to make the most awkward-looking snow angel in existence. "Janey, when you get done, help me find the shovels, will you?"

Red raised a hand. "Nah, I got this, Ross," he said, proceeding to raise his conjured bone shield and maneuver it to start shoving snow out of the way. Pleased with his employee's initiative, Ross clapped Red on the shoulder as he passed and headed into the store.

A moment later, Janey stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I'm glad to see you came back!"

Shoving another mound of snow up against the side of the alley wall, Red shot her a look. "Oh, yeah? You miss my ugly mug that much, didja?" 

Janey promptly responded by going over and draping her arm around Red's shoulders, one hand coming up to feign a pinch at his cheek. "Of course, I missed this 'ugly mug'!" she told him. "You're my favorite skeleton monster!"

"I'm the only skeleton monster you know," Red said, echoing a conversation they had had many a time before. He lost his focus on his bone shield when Janey stepped in front of him. She clapped her hands upon his upper arms and held him at arm's length, staring him down with a stern look across her features. He raised a bone brow. "What?"

"You're _happy_ ," she said flatly. He rolled his eyelights, feeling a bit too generous to shove her off, especially after he'd already gotten in a good laugh at her expense.

"Yeah, so?"

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she stepped back, hands clasping over her mouth. "Oh, my God," came her muffled words. She dropped her hands after a moment, proceeding to gesture wildly with one and flip-flop between covering her mouth and uncovering it with her other. "You...! You said you had to leave to help Blue! Oh my goodness, Red, did you two...?"

He had no idea where her line of questioning was going, for a moment later, she was suddenly hopping in place, her hands bunched up by her mouth as if trying to hold back whatever it was her hyperactive mind had dreamed up.

A moment later, Janey was bouncing in place, her gloved fists shaking gleefully in front of her as a sparkle that was downright reminiscent of Blue glimmered in her eyes. "Weeeeeell?"

"Well, what?" Red asked.

"You know!" Janey said, giving an odd head bob to imply he should say something. Red, still feeling in good spirits, just bobbed his head back in a playful mockery. She rolled her eyes and let out a scoff. "C'mon, Red! What happened? Details, details!"

He lightly pushed passed her. "I haven't a clue what you mean," he lied smoothly.

"Yes, you do! You would not be in this good a mood if something hadn't happened between you and Blue! Red," she said plainly, "did you get laid?"

The bluntness of her statement and the very bewildered once-over she gave him that clearly denoting she had no idea of how a skeleton would even be capable of such an act caused Red to guffaw loudly enough that it caught the attention of some humans shoveling the sidewalk on the other side of the street. "By the stars - Janey, where did THAT come from?" 

"You are always so cranky in the morning," Janey told him, thrusting her finger out in a way that reminded Red of a dramatic attorney from some game his coworker liked to play, "or in the very least, grumbly and quiet! It takes at least two cups of coffee to get you to even answer in more than monosyllabic responses before eight o'clock!"

"So you're basing my lack of coffee intake on me getting some?" 

This whole theory of hers was getting ridiculous but, honestly? Red couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed today. No, it was the first snow of the season and the town was oozing nostalgia to him.

And, okay, maybe knowing he might have a pair of starry eyelights and a sturdy pair of arms waiting on him when he got home had something to do with it - as well as the grin that spread across his face.

The mirth welled up inside of him, making him laugh loudly and proudly. Maybe Blue was rubbing off on him. He hadn't felt this good in a long while, and if he was about to give Janey a run for her money in the cackling laughter department, then so be it.

It was obvious she was still annoyed he wasn't telling her anything, so he could not help but to flash her a cheeky grin to troll her a bit.

"Red, come oooooon," she whined. "Tell meeee!"

Finally, he decided he would spare the young woman before she burst from curiosity and held up his hands in a supplicating gesture. "Alright, alright. We didn't exactly 'do the do', as you folks say, but..."

"Yes...?"

He let a long moment of silence pass between them, and he swore he could hear the inner workings of Janey's own brain start to fizzle and pop like a machine overloading. Nonchalantly, he reached down and picked up the bone shield and looked it over, playing at inspecting it while drawing things out for as long as possible. 

"We..."

"Uh-huh?"

He flicked off a bit of snow from the shield. "We might have kissed, alright?"

Janey's victorious shriek was instant as she leapt into the air, throwing both of her arms up. She hopped around and flailed her arms about for a moment as she continued to screech before tackling Red into a hug and then running over to the back door and throwing it open to shout within. "Ross! You owe me ten bucks, man!"

Red just laughed incredulously. "You guys bet on me?!"

"Red, we bet on everything, you know this," she flatly told him before running back over to the skeleton. "So, how was it? Was he everything you wanted and more?"

The monster just reared his head back with a cocky grin and propped the bone shield up in the deep snow. "A gentlemonster doesn't kiss and tell." Janey let out a snort.

"'Gentlemonster', my ass! You literally spent your last shift telling dead baby jokes halfway down to the pier," she said. Red chuckled. "So, who initiated it? I bet it was Blue. You were probably too nervous to say anything, and he had to drag you out of denial, kicking and screaming."

Red's grin grew wider. "No, actually, that one was on me."

He deeply regretted not having his camera out for the utterly scandalized look that passed over Janey's face. With a dramatic eye roll and a groan, she darted back over to the back door, yanked it open again, and dejectedly yelled, "Keep your damn money, Ross!"

Their manager's laughter chugged away like a car that just wouldn't start from somewhere within the building as Janey let the door swing to. Fake annoyance on her face, she looked back to Red. "I had so much faith in you. So much faith."

The snort that escaped Red actually hurt a little.

"At least tell me this: was it romantic?"

'Was it romantic'? 

It was all Red could do not to press his gloved finger bones to his teeth. Even days after their parting, he could still feel the phantom pressure of teeth clinking against teeth, the tight embrace of bony arms around his neck and back, and the heat of warm bones and ectobody that had seeped through the front of his coat. Even without the need to breathe, Blue had still found a way to leave him breathless. When they had finally parted, the sea monster had brought his forehead to Red's, touching the bridge of his nasal bone against the other's, and remained with his eyes closed for the longest time as the wind and surf swept around them. The rumble of a satisfied chuckle finally rippled through Red's chest as it spilled out of the one pressed up against his own, and he felt his own eyes slip shut as Blue raised up to plant a kiss onto his forehead.

(He had then admitted to doing the same as Red dozed upon him, begging Red's pardon in way a that was plainly more polite courtesy than regret. Now Red understood what the warmth he felt against his face had been before he had awoken on the couch.)

They had parted ways shortly after that, and the cold air and waters soon forced Red tor return to his own home to make preparations for the upcoming storm. When all was done, he walked back into the den and took note of how empty it felt. Yet, upon spying the bits of cushioning peeking out from the holes Blue's spines had made in the couch, he could not help but run his hands over them and smile.

That he then draped himself across the couch, still basking in the lingering warmth from their stolen moment on the beach as his SOUL beat with the giddiness completely uncharacteristic to one normally so rough around the edges as he, was nothing he would ever tell.

Bringing himself back to the present, he nodded to Janey, who then whooped and threw open the door one final time.

"Ross, you owe me half of that!"

The reply of "Half of nothing is still nothing" echoed out from within, the tinny quality signalling that Red's boss was probably standing in the opened freezer. With Janey shouting her unnecessary correction at Ross, Red turned to finish clearing up outside before he allowed himself to join the two humans.

As nearly a week had passed since Red had been to work, things had piled up. Even the deep, blinding snow wasn't enough to keep everyone inside and, so long as the snow wasn't too high, people like Ross and Janey would always find their way out - as would some customers to whom cabin fever was a fate worse than death. That being said, there had still been plenty of work to do with backed up deliveries and odd jobs that had been left aside in exchange for making sure the generator stayed on so none of the product spoiled. 

Red had felt a little bad for leaving his coworkers to keep up with all of that when he knew he could have easily teleported there. However, the idea honestly didn't occur to him until midway into the first day of the storm. While he might have been able to make excuses about getting to town, he highly doubted either of them would have let him leave town during the worst of it. Ross' youngest child, Tommy, asked far too many questions and was entirely too perceptive for a child so young, and he had only narrowly dodged some very awkward conversations at one of the BBQs Ross had invited his staff to. And as for Janey? Well, she could tone it down when she needed to, but after seeing how she reacted over his big romantic reveal, he knew an evening spent staying at her house would likely involve her heaping on whatever romantic advice she could come up with. Quite frankly, he had already been privy to enough of her ideas over the course of his return shift, and he wasn't sure his SOUL was going to be able to take much more.

If that was what having an older sister was like, he'd just stick with Edge.

...Scratch that, watching her and his brother interact would be _hilarious_.

Despite acting like he had a permanent stick up his bony lack of behind, the younger skeleton brother was easily flustered, and it gave Red no small joy at the thought of watching Janey verbally go to town on him. After all, Red had been greatly lacking in the Big Brotherly Duties department, and one session with Janey would be enough to pretty much take care of all of that in one fell swoop.

Fortunately, with the workload left awaiting him, Red was able to pass what might have otherwise been a very long day rather quickly - though the last couple of hours did seem to tick along achingly slow, to the point that even his uncommonly good mood gave way to a bit of sluggishness. He could bring himself to snap, although Ross did point out that he was glaring a hole through the clock.

Few times had he been happier to get off work than that day. It didn't even bother him when his coworkers laughed at his throwing both fists in the air at four o'clock, and it was only by sheer willpower that he managed to not teleport home and forget his truck entirely.

That did not stop him from doing so the moment he coasted his truck to a stop in his driveway (at least, he assumed it was his driveway, although it was hard to tell where yard began and gravel ended when it was all buried under snow). 

Instantly, the white of the snow faded away for a swath of dark blue dotted with small chunks of ice floes. He had only a moment to take in the scene before something slammed into his legs so hard it knocked him flat onto the dock.

Red registered the splash of whatever hit him as it sailed over the edge of the pier and dropped into the water below as he tried to figure out what had happened. It took another second to recall the yelp his attacker had let out sounded very familiar, and the vibrations of said sea monster clambering back up onto the icy dock brought a wide grin to his face.

"Stars, Red! Are you alright?" 

The skeleton just looked up and grinned even wider as starry blue eyelights peered down at him. "Yeah. I guess you could just say I was _falling_ for you..."

He let the words trail off before Blue's hands went to his head as the sea monster began to look him over. "You must have hit your head badly if you have suddenly begun spouting puns as horrible as my brother's." Red didn't miss the faint tinge of blue dusting his friend's ( _date_ friend?) cheekbones and couldn't help the rumble of laughter that trickled out of himself as he sat up.

"You liked it, though," Red teased.

Blue, seemingly appalled at his own face's betrayal, rubbed at his cheekbones and flatly said, "I know and I hate it!"

It took all of about ten seconds before the two of them burst into laughter, and Red eagerly pulled Blue into a hug that rivaled Blue's own enthusiasm. He could feel the malleable bones stretch wider against the side of his face and knew Blue must be absolute ecstatic with the physical contact, and it was with no little joy that Red took pride in knowing he was the reason behind that.

"Missed you, Blue," he said slackening his hold slightly. Blue, however, absolutely refused to relinquish him for another minute, content to half-crush Red's ribs as he happily rocked back and forth with the now not-so-grumpy skeleton in his arms.

"I missed you, as well, Red!" Blue said loudly, causing Red to wince. The merskeleton had the decency to look sheepish when he realized his mistake, finally pulling back to look at Red's face. 

Red chuckled. "I know I was late getting back because of the roads, but I didn't expect to get tackled the moment I showed up."

"Oh, I am sorry about that," Blue said, "I knew you would be here, but I just could not sit still! This pier was nice and icy, so it has made for great fun in sliding across!"

With a sweep of his arm, Blue gestured toward the icy planks of the pier. Red could see now that there was still a bit of snow around him, but that it had obviously been marked with trails by a sliding merman. He was only sorry he had missed Blue flipping and flopping off the end.

It was then that a memory tugged itself up from the recesses of Red's mind, giving him a most ingenious idea.

"Say, you want to do something fun?"

Blue just grinned eagerly, prompting Red to scoop him up into his arms, leaving the beach soon silent save for the crashing of icy waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg  
> THE KINDNESS BRIGADE (for COVID-19 positivity and information to those stuck in dire straits): https://kindnessbrigade.tumblr.com/


	16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN: "A WINTER OUTING"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red takes Blue to town to pick up something for his surprise and runs across a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, have I really not updated this fic since April? Geez, Louise, I need to hop on that!   
> Well, here, have some more fluff. Hope you all are doing well!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: "A WINTER OUTING"  
\------------------

The thing about snowy days was that, while people in the town got out and about once the snow stopped during the _day_ , toward the evening, it sent many further indoors. Red didn't normally have to worry about much traffic out where he lived as few people lived there, and most of the farmers were sensible enough to stick to their homes once the sun began to descend below the mountains. With the road partially cleared from the plows and a few of the locals' tractors, there were patches of ice here and there, but for the most part, his truck rolled smoothly across the snow as he slowly drove toward town.

Blue was absolutely in awe. It was all Red could do not to laugh and break the spell that the twinkling snow held over the mermonster. 

"I have never seen everything so white," Blue told him, nearly breathless. "I mean, I have seen the shores covered in snow and ice during the winter - and from a distance, of course - but to be right in it like this is just so...so...oh, Red, I do not even know how to describe it!"

"Surreal?"

"Yes! Exactly that!" Blue said, swiveling his head around briefly before some snow fell from a branch overhead, thudding onto the windshield in a way that made Blue jump. Red merely chuckled and hit the wipers, clearing the view. Blue peered up, looking this way and that, craning his neck as he tried to see where it came from. 

The butcher was highly pleased with himself as he turned the radio on, allowing soft holiday music to play. A traditional human tune began, and Red tapped his fingerbones against the wheel in time with the soft baritone that droned on from the speakers. After his vehicle pulled out onto the highway, he spared a glance over at his passenger. Blue was wearing what may have been the most clothing he had ever seen the merman wear. A knit cap, a black sweater, and a backup coat - all of which Red had long kept in storage - now adorned his friend. With an old quilt tossed over his legs to hide the garbage bags keeping his tail moist, anyone who looked inside the truck would just see another skeleton monster bundled up. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Of course, Blue wasn't used to all of the layers, so, after a while, Red had to show him how to open the windows. That was fine as Red personally preferred a little chill. As he pulled into the parking lot of the store, he smirked to himself. After killing the engine and undoing his seatbelt, he promised Blue he would be back in a few minutes and asked him to stay in the truck. Then he headed inside.

Red found what he needed quickly enough, glad they still had what he needed in stock after the first major snowstorm of the season. After snagging what he needed, he hefted the items up and made his way out of the store while whistling a jaunty tune. Thankfully, his truck (and Blue) were still in the same place he left them, and Red's heart swelled with an almost giddy excitement he hadn't felt in ages. He opened his truck door and maneuvered the awkwardly-shaped purchase behind the seats before righting his own. 

Blue looked at the items, puzzled.

"What have you found, Red?"

"Part of the 'something fun' I was telling you about," Red said as he swung himself up into the driver's seat, his eyes meeting Blue's bold stars.

"I simply cannot wait to see what it is you have to show me, dear Red!"

Red chuckled and started to roll the window up, but nearly jumped out of his nonexistent skin when he heard something slam hard into the driver's door. He whirled around, one eyelight flaring, only to see a grinning Janey spinning around and clapping as she laughed with pure delight.

"I got you, Red! I totally got you!" she cheered.

"Janey?! What in the hell, woman!" Red growled, clutching at his chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Ah ah ah!" Janey wagged a finger at him. "Don't lie, Red. You and I both know that skeleton monsters don't have-"

She stopped mid-sentence and tilted her head, looking past Red. Red was confused for a moment before he turned around and saw Blue staring curiously at his coworker. 

Suddenly, a feeling of panic washed over Red. This was not part of the plan! Red was sure he wouldn't run into anyone he knew, and Janey was not the happiest camper when it came to very cold temperatures, even if she'd brave them to get to work! So why did she have to be out here?

He gave Blue a cursory once-over to make sure his finned parts were covered, and thankfully, he was still in perfect disguise. Red gulped and caught Blue's eye.

"Red! Who is your friend?"

Instantly, a hand shot past Red's face as Janey eagerly leaned in through the window, proffering her hand for Blue to shake. "Hi, I'm Janey, Red's coworker!"

Red didn't even have time to react before Blue's eyelights lit up with realization. "Janey!" he said. "Red has told me much about you and Ross at the butcher shop!"

"Don't believe a word he says!" she said, laughing. Red tried not to facepalm.

"Oh? But why ever not?" Blue asked, clearly confused. "He has said you are a very lovely person and a hard worker! I can already see from the start that the former is absolutely true."

Janey looked clearly surprised before socking Red playfully in the shoulder. "And here I would have thought you'd be telling people I was a fire-breathing dragon with two heads!"

"Nah, that was my next door neighbor when I was five," Red grumbled, giving Blue a look in hopes Blue wouldn't blow his own cover. 

"So who is this?" Janey asked. "Wait...you wouldn't happen to be Blue, would you?"

Instantly, Blue lit up like a Gyftmas tree. "I am, indeed!"

Red knew he was doomed when Janey looked like she would very much mirror Blue's starry eyelights if the laws of physics allowed. He could feel sweat bead on his forehead.

"Oh. My. _GOODNESS_!!!" Janey squeaked out. Red was surprised the hopeless romantic wasn't bouncing in place. Instead, looked over Blue before giving Red a sly look. "Red, I knew he was a sweetie from the way you talked about him, but I didn't know he was this cute."

Blue beamed.

Red wanted to facepalm.

"But in all seriousness, it's good to finally put a face to a name," Janey said. "Red's been a lot less of a Grumpy Gus since the two of you started hanging out."

Red returned her shove. She laughed. Blue just beamed.

Suddenly, Red felt fingerbones glide across the hand he had resting on the console, and Blue linked their hands together. He felt a warmth pulse through his SOUL as Blue's gaze met his own. Well, if Janey's big mouth made Blue that happy, who was he to complain?

"Well, Blue it has been nice meeting you, but I'm going to get on out of here," Janey told him. "See you at work, Red!"

"Yeah, seeya," Red said as he watched Janey prance off back to her vehicle. He shook his head, chuckling, before he began to roll his window most of the way back up. When he turned around to start the truck, he could see Blue's eyelights on him out of his peripherals.

"So, you have been speaking highly of me to your coworkers?" Blue noted, his grin wide and thoroughly pleased.

"Just the good things," Red said, turning around to face him.

"Only the good things?" 

"Yeah, like how you like to drag me all over creation and nearly bowled me over with a damn shark-"

Blue interrupted him by pressing a skeletal kiss to his cheek. Red, in spite of himself, could feel the magic trickle to his face like a schoolchild with hsi first crush. He went to raised his hand to touch the place Blue's teeth met his own bone, but found their hands still linked together. 

Red gave Blue's hand a gentle squeeze, finding he was loathe to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:  "Sledding!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A childhood delight leads to a fun wintertime date and another peek into Red's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments, both here and on Tumblr!   
> Ah, I feel so loved! I'm glad you all are enjoying this work. Now, here's another treat for you!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: "Sledding!"  
————————————

"Are we ready now?" Blue asked, practically squirming in his seat the figure out what the strange surprise was that Red had purchased. Red just cracked a smile.

"Nope," he told Blue, "and quit yer asking! You'll find out soon enough. Don't wanna spoil the surprise, do you?"

Blue laughed. "I cannot help it, Red! You have me curious."

"Well, you're just gonna have to wait," Red said gruffly, though his face held a fond expression.

By the time they reached their destination, dusk had not quite settled, and the bright light of the full moon overhead made the crisp snow twinkle almost as much as it had during the day. They finally arrived back at Red's house, and once the truck had coasted to a stop, Red got out and tugged out the items from behind the seat, dragging them by their ropelike handles as he went around to help Blue out.

It was a bit awkward to finagle both Blue and the surprise, but after Blue had shucked the quilt and bags, Red gave him the items to hold while Red himself carried Blue. Kicking the passenger door shut behind him, the skeleton monster ambled off toward the slope that led down to the ocean.

Once he got there, he stopped. Blue looked at him, giddy.

"Are we ready now?"

Red nodded, causing Blue to giggle with excitement. He lowered Blue to the snow, taking one of the items from him before holding it up in front of himself.

"Now, you're going to want to have a good grip on both handles," Red instructed, firmly grasping the braided rope on each side of the large oblong disc, "and put the back flat on the ground so you're facing this way."

Blue looked on and nodded, hanging on Red's every word. Red crouched down at the head of the slope.

"Get down on the ground like this and keep your hands on the cords to keep a good hold on it, and then... _yer off_!"

The butcher flung out the plastic bodyboard with a whoop, landing heavily on his belly as he slid head-first down the snow-and-ice slicked slope. His loud laughter echoed off the walls of the cliffs as he plunged down between them, the wind whipping by his face and making the hood of his coat fly off his head. He heard Blue's own laughter sound out from behind him, growing closer as the two of them picked up speed. 

Suddenly, he heard a loud _thwap!_. He tried to glance back to see what it was, only to hear Blue's maniacal laughter go airborne. Red glanced up in shock as he saw the merman sail over him, flecks of snow that had been caught on his tail trailing behind him like the exhaust from a passing jet plane. His mouth dropped open as he watched Blue arc over him and slam heavily down onto the ground. Miraculously, he managed to hold onto the board despite slipping into a tailspin. Red was so shocked at the trick that between that and Blue's elated cackling reaching mad scientist levels of crazy, he could barely hold onto his own board from laughing.

Down the two raced, the wind whipping violently as the neared the end of the pass. Blue reached the beach before Red did and zipped out onto the half-snowy beach. Red cut hard to the right, veering his board to the side so that he lost momentum, though he was nearly slung off his board from the force.

Blue, however, headed straight for the ocean and plunged right into an oncoming wave, having only enough time to yelp before going tailfin-over-tea kettle into the surf.

Red was glad he resurfaced quickly and unharmed, because he was incapacitated from laughing so hard. He heard Blue shout. 

"Did you see that?!" 

"Yeah, heh," Red hacked out, rolling onto his back in the snow and just going spread eagled, his bones nearly rattling from his hearty laughter. He heard Blue shuffling across the beach toward him before the mermonster's face peered down at him. "Want to go again?"

Blue's expression spoke volumes.

Red was hardly what you would call a competitive monster, but sledding brought out a streak he had buried since childhood. Surprisingly, he was actually still good at it, and years of suppressed muscle memory surged through his bones, his now more powerful adult form able to control the bodyboard in a way his younger self had not. Against anyone else, he might have been able to win that race to the beach, but his competition was Blue. Unless Red teleported to the top and left the merman down below, he knew he wasn't going to win squat.

Still, even though both he and Blue knew that, Blue was more than willing to show off his agility on the snowy slope as much as he did in the water. For a guy who spent nearly all of his life in the water, he was certainly doing a pretty good job of catching air.

"Watch this, Red!"

Blue had yelled the same phrase nearly every run to the beach, so he honestly no longer needed to, but as this was Blue, it would have felt weird to Red if he had not. Red watched as Blue's board - _sans_ Blue - shot past him like a torpedo, only for Blue to sail overhead, somersaulting with his tail tucked so closely to him that he resembled an old hedgehog character from a video game he and Edge used to play back in middle school. Unsurprisingly, Blue stuck the landing on the board, instantly catching the handles as he maneuvered the plastic disc around to wave at Red before he skidded down the rest of the slope.

By the end of that round (Red had lost count after twenty), Red finally decided to call it quits while all of his bones were intact. He pulled up into a stop a little too late and nearly collided with Blue, sending a spray of sandy snowy up onto the merman. 

"Whoops, uh, sorry, Blue. Here, let me help you."

Red shakily rolled off the board and pushed himself up into a sitting position before scooting over to try to swipe some of the gritty sludge off his his date. He honestly should have expected Blue to tackle him to the snow, laughing like a child at Gyftmas, but it still caught him off guard.

"This is so much fun, Red! Thank you for taking me sledding!"

"No problem," Red said, raising his eyebrow at the merman who had flopped across his torso and seemed far too comfortable to get up. Not that he was complaining about having Blue that close, "figured you would like it."

"You thought correctly! It was highly enjoyable!"

"I noticed that," Red said, swiping some of the sand-snow mix off Blue's shoulder. "Show-Off."

Blue just grinned. "But I impressed you!"

Red laughed. "That you did! Thought you were going to be the first sea monster in space for a moment with as much air as you caught!"

The merman beamed widely, clearly proud of himself.

"Do you do this every year when it snows?"

"Who, me? Nah.'

"But you were so good at it! And it looked as though you were having fun, too."

"I was, just ain't had much of a reason to since Edge and I were kids," Red admitted. 

Blue regarded him curiously. "Why?"

"Well, after a while, he started spending time hanging out with friends of his own age. I was getting closer to graduating. On top of that, I held down a couple of part-time jobs. Didn't need to, not with how much my old man made, but he was Wingdings-freaking- _Gaster_. Like hell was I gonna leech off my old man! Nah, if I was gonna be anything, I was gonna do it as much as I could on my own. Still didn't keep Pops from dragging me off to the lab on weekends for like four years so I could be prepared for college. Heh, he was pretty surprised when I wanted to take my internship at another lab."

The merman rolled over, wriggling around until he was no longer one half of a two-skeleton X and, instead, only rested against his chest. "Tell me about him."

"My Pops?" Red looked shocked. "What's there to talk about?"

"Well, you have mentioned remarkably little about him, other than that your brother looks like him and he was a very hard worker.'

It took Red a full minute of blinking owlishly before he finally realized that it was a legitimate question. The utter shock of having someone who didn't know who his father was made him laugh aloud.

"Wow, where do I even start?" he said. "My Pops is practically a household name in the scientific community. He's got more degrees than a thermometer, but he specialized in quantum physics. When he was ten, this guy actually solved an equation that had mathematicians all over world puzzling for about two centuries, and that just touched things off for him. He's led to the development of inventions in several sectors and published, stars, I don't know, like fifty books? Most universities would have given him their firstborn children just to have him come lecture for them. The guy was a freaking genius!"

Blue smiled. "Sounds like you admire him."

Red snorted. "Well, he WAS my Pops. Don't get me wrong - he could be a real asshole when he wanted to be, and you would think the man didn't have a brain cell in his head before his first cup of coffee, but...yeah, he wasn't so bad."

"But you did not wish to be stuck in his shadow."

"Finally, someone gets it," Red says, "besides my brother. Edge was the same way. Freaking hated it when people gave my little bro flack for his choices in life. Like who the hell are they to choose for him? Have they ever read a quantum physics book? Unless you like it and have a good teacher, you'd have more of a chance of sprouting wings and learning to fly! That's stuff's not for everyone."

Blue's eyes narrowed to a half-lidded gaze, and his smile softened. "You truly do love your little brother."

The image of a scrawny babybones shrieking with glee as Red shoved his sled down the hill for the umpteenth time sent a pang of nostalgia and regret through his SOUL.

"More than you know, Blue."

Red successfully quashed down the tears that threatened to collect in his sockets.

_And more than Edge knows, too..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get too far into it, sorry for you foncesty shippers - this is purely brotherly love coming from Red. You'll have to get your fix elsewhere~  
> But you can rule out that theory as to what has happened between the two of them.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: "Janey Gives Red an Idea"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janey confronts Red the day after meeting Blue and gives the skeleton monster an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am living for you guys' comments. Seriously, thank you all so much for tuning back in after such a long wait. I'll try to get at least one chapter a week out until the story is finished now that I'm able to concentrate on it again. These are legit a wonderful little treat to read at break and thank you all so much.
> 
> That being said, let's have some more workplace antics with Red today!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: "Janey Gives Red an Idea"  
——————————

All of the sledding had taken what remained of Red's energy, so even though he was loathed to say goodbye to Blue, he knew if he hadn't, he'd have been passing out on the beach. Since he didn't fancy waking up encased in salty ice, he finally had to bid his crush farewell so he could have enough strength to get back home. After a searing kiss in thanks that left Red almost dazed, Blue waved to Red before disappearing under the waves, leaving Red to scoop up the bodyboards and teleport, alone, back to his home.

It felt so quiet without the merman around. Thankfully, Red wasn't left with much time to contemplate it, as he was so worn out that he passed out before his head ever hit the pillow.

He awoke early the next morning feeling surprisingly well-rested, which he supposed he could credit Blue for. Not just his body, but his mind felt revitalized, too. Giving in to a childhood delight to entertain the mermonster had reminded Red how much fun it was - and how nice it was to just get out and do something with someone he cared about.

As Red pulled on his coat, he paused a moment to look at the framed picture on his mantel. What was Edge doing now? Probably not sledding. Red snorted at the thought of Edge convincing that hunk of metal he worked for to slide down a hill with him, and he chuckled mental image of noodle arms flailing in the air as his brother cackled with fiendish glee.

That was when Red got a thought. He glanced over to the desktop computer across the room. While he could take or leave the robot's music, listening to some of the songs helped him feel closer to his brother. Red had often scoured videos of MTT working backstage just to catch glimpses of Edge - the only remaining way he had to feel close to his little brother. Even though that was practically all he did while waiting for the nor'easter to blow over, he knew there likely wouldn't be much in the way of new content for another week as that was when the next concert would be held.

Red wondered what Edge would think of Blue.

"Heh, probably think he was too upbeat for his own good, then try to out-bench press him," the skeleton said with a snicker. In all fairness, Edge would probably like Blue if his pride about losing any contests of strength didn't get in the way. He hoped Edge would like him, anyway. Maybe someday, Red could actually introduce the two of them, but that felt like a dream as far out of reach as the very stars in the sky.

Red continued to be lost in thought right up until he got to work. He walked in, shouting his usual "Mornin'" to what appeared to be an empty but clearly recently inhabited kitchen, if the boxes waiting to be broken down by the door were any indication. He hung up his coat, threw on an apron and started to wash his hands as heard recognized the familiar voices of Ross and Janey as they exited the cooler with a couple more boxes.

Ross looked up at him as he and Janey hefted their boxes of chicken parts onto the work table. "Ah, right on time to help us with the truck!" Red's boss said. 

"'Course I am," Red said, "roads weren't too awfully bad after some of the farmers plowed off the backroads."

Janey crossed her arms over the top of her box and grinned cheekily. "Well, as much as I am glad to have someone else to help lug this stuff around, I would have personally forgiven you if you had been late."

Red raised a bone brow. Her tone clearly conveyed she did not think driving conditions would have been the issue. He quickly remembered Janey's sneaking up on him last night and speaking with Blue before Red could get back out onto the road unseen, but he pretended not to be fazed. "How generous of you," he said sarcastically. 

"Of course! But I would have expected a story from you~!" she sang before heading over to a shelving rack on the wall to grab some plastic trays for the meat case.

"What's there to tell? 'Road's slick as a seal's balls' is self-explanatory."

Janey shot him a look. "How very descriptive of you."

Red grinned and shot back, "I try."

Ross looked over his temperature and invoice sheets to make sure everything was done before hanging it up on a nail between the cooler and freezer doors. "Janey says she got to meet your friend Blue."

"His _boy_ friend, Ross," Janey corrected him.

"Of course," Ross said, the corners of his mustache lifting in the fatherly smirk he had been trying to suppress.

Red just sighed. He figured Janey would blab. 

"See? He's not denying it," Janey told her boss as she sat down the trays. "Not that I can blame him. Blue seemed like he was really sweet. And adorable! His eyelights literally turned into stars, Ross."

Ross chuckled, meaning Janey had probably mentioned just that long before Red ever got to work. "You two go ahead and get the front cases started. I need to make a phone call and see why they shorted us a few boxes."

As the man left the room, Red and Janey tore into the chicken boxes to get to work. Red wasn't going to volunteer more than he had to, choosing to turn his attention to the matter at hand. Of course, Janey wasn't quiet for very long, and Red knew without even looking at her that her eyes were sparkling with mischief. "So...?"

"A needle pulling thread."

"Very funny," Janey deadpanned. "When were you going to tell me Blue came into town?"

"When pigs grew wings and flew."

Rolling her eyes, Janey continued to arrange the chicken breasts on her trays. "C'mon, Red! Old buddy? Old pal? You can't just hide the deets of a good love story like that from me! I live for that sort of thing!"

"Yes, I can," Red said without even looking at her. All was quiet for a few moments before he noticed she had stopped working. Against his better judgment, he looked up and saw her grinning like a woman possessed. "What?"

"You didn't deny it," she said. Red just made an noncommittal noise and went back to pulling out chicken legs from their bag. "Oh, I just love hearing it! Or not hearing it. Oh, you know!"

"Watch where you're slinging them hands of yours!" Red told her as she happily gesticulated. "You've wiped enough gunk on me lately as it is."

"You ever gonna let me live that down?"

"Nope!"

Janey stuck her tongue out at him. Red laughed.

"But in all seriousness, Red, he seems like a good guy and like he's very taken with you. I was sneaking about as obviously as a cartoon villain, and he was just staring at you nearly the whole time like I do when I see sushi. If that's not the look of love, I don't know what is."

"You've been reading too many of your stories again."

"And you, my good Mr. Skeleton," she said, jabbing a gloved finger toward his face, which he swatted away, "are living one of them."

Red rolled his eyes and shook his head. Still, he couldn't suppress the hint of grin on his face even if he tried. Still, he just waved her off and continued to work.

After a few moments of blissful silence, Janey piped up, "So, did he get snowed in with you?"

"You wish, Cupid."

Though, if Red had been able to, he would have loved to have been snowed in with Blue. While he had been floating on the high of Blue's returning his feelings, the lingering warmth would have been made so much better by knowing Blue was alright. Logically, he knew the hardy merman was likely safe and warm back in his undersea home, and might even have weathered inclimate weather like that with no problems (if him sledding barely clothed on an icy dock was any indication). Still, Red had lost much in his life, and he would rather have known Blue wasn't a fish-cicle bobbing offshore somewhere.

That, and the idea of waking up to those big blue eyelights would have been nice.

In his bed.

All alone, snowed into a house in the middle of nowhere, with no one to disturb the two of them...

"Uh, Red? Why're you piling your chicken on the table?"

The skeleton monster snapped out of his thoughts to realize he had spent the last minute or so completely missing the tray. He mentally swore but outwardly restrained himself.

"Just seeing if you were paying attention," he grumbled. 

"Uh-huh..."

Janey did not look even the slightest convinced. Red quickly moved the chicken legs back onto his tray before hefting it up and moving away from the table, trying to concentrate on the cold seeping into his hands through the plastic to pull his mind back from the potentially steamy territory into where it was headed. He headed out front to stow his tray into the poultry display case, narrowly missing bumping into Janey when she showed up behind him with the first tray of chicken breasts.

"Why you acting so weird all of a sudden, Red?" 

"'M not acting weird," he grumbled, heading back to the kitchen to prep another tray. Janey followed him. Though, thankfully, she seemed to have finished pestering him for the time being.

"Fine, keep your secrets," she said. "So, you guys got any plans for Gyftmas yet?"

Red halted in his tracks. "Huh?"

"Gyftmas?" Janey repeated herself. "Isn't that what most monsters celebrate this time of year?"

"I know what Gyftmas is, Janey," Red told her. 

Janey gave him a puzzled look before her eyes widened and her mouth formed a knowing O. "Red, don't tell me you haven't gotten your man anything for Gyftmas yet."

Red groaned and started to plate up the remaining chicken legs. "He's never actually celebrated it before. Should I?"

His coworker's jaw dropped and she looked at him like he had just caught his arm on fire and asked if he needed to extinguish himself. "Of course, you should! I mean, unless it's against his beliefs?"

"Nah, nothing like that," he told her, "Blue and his brother are just...They just didn't grow up with the same traditions in their community. Kind of an isolated bunch."

Janey smirked. "So, what you're telling me is you found the skeleton equivalent of Tarzan?"

'More like the skeleton equivalent of Ariel,' he thought, they snorted at the mental image of Blue rocketing himself up onto a rocky shoal while the waves splashed dramatically behind him as he sang Disney songs.

"This is great, though! You can be the first person he celebrates Gyftmas with! You get to set the precedent, so no matter what you decide to do, there's no way you can screw it up!"

Red shot her a dirty look. "If you had any more faith in me, you might as well start a cult."

"Hah hah," she said sarcastically. Janey stared down into the box of chicken breasts for a minute, then looked back up. "Wait, you said he has a brother? What's he like?"

"Tall...ish. Slim. Lazier than me and tells a lot of puns and dad jokes. Likes to chase Blue around with a sock puppet. Pretty much the opposite of Blue in every way."

"He single?"

Red choked on air. "What?"

"Just imagine it, Red!" Janey walked over to his side, wrapping an arms around his shoulders as she waved one hand in the air. "You hook me up with his bro, then you and Blue get hitched, and voila! We'll be in-laws! Then I can actually pick on you like you're my brother 'cause you will be!"

"Janey?"

"Yes, Red?" she grinned.

There was a full beat of silence.

"You still have your gloves on, don't you?"

"Oh. Oops!"

"Dammit, Janey!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	19. CHAPTER NINETEEN:  "You Used to Call Me on My Shellphone"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red speaks with come of Blue's old friends and learn they have a surprise for the hyperactive merskeleton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today, I've gotta feature another merfolk AU fic I read because it was just that good.
> 
> I want you guys to go check out "Dust in the Water" by one of my readers, Serenade_Blue.  
> They have a really nice polyam ClassicCherryBerry merfolk AU oneshot. It's really action-packed and is super good, even if it quite nearly tears your heart out (but that hopeful ending tag, guys!!!), so if you like that pairing and want more Undertale merfolk AUs in your life, check that out here:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/27005962

CHAPTER NINETEEN: "You Used to Call Me on My Shellphone"  
———————————————

Despite her goofing around, Red had to admit that Janey had a point. If Blue had never celebrated Gyftmas before, then this was the perfect chance for Red to introduce him to another facet of Land Monster life.

It wasn't a religious holiday, more of a long-running joke that morphed into a holiday after some monsters strung some tinsel and twinkle lights onto a neighbor and their families apologized by putting presents under a tree for it. Still, it was practically sacred for monsters descended from the snowy regions of the Underground where they had once been banished some many, many years ago, such as Red's family. Once they all reached the Surface, the holiday had merged with some of the human winter holidays, so more and more monsters started celebrating it until most had taken up the tradition.

What had once started as an apology for an adolescent prank was now a time to spend with loved ones.

Red tried not to think about how it would be his first Gyftmas without his brother, and instead, turned his thoughts back to Blue. He usually had a difficult time coming up with presents for anyone that wasn't Edge or his father, but an idea immediately sprang to mind for Blue, so he stopped by his house that evening to briefly place the order online before he headed down to the shore.

Sure enough, Blue was there waiting for him.

"Red!" he called out, waving his arm frantically from the pier. Blue flopped into the water as Red felt his feet pick up the pace. Blue had bounded out of the surf moments later, meeting Red on the snowy sand as the other opened his arms to greet him. The merman accepted the hug graciously, nearly bowling Red over in his haste. "It is so good to see you again! Are you well? How was work? Did you-"

The Surface Dweller chuckled at Blue's now welcome enthusiasm as he continued to prattle off questions. "I'm fine. Work was good. Yes, I ate today and slept well. Kinda hard not to after you wore me out last night," Red said, rolling his shoulders, letting the magic built up at the joints pop like a human cracking his knuckles.

"Sledding was so much fun! Can we go again soon?"

"Heh, sure, buddy," Red said. He let Blue lead him a bit toward the water. "Where are we going?"

"I was wondering if you would like to join Stretch and me for supper this evening?"

Red mulled it over for a moment and agreed. "Sure, just let me pop back the the house for my wetsuit and we can head out."

Despite how frigid the Surface was, the water was still surprisingly warm, especially once Blue had pulled him down to a certain level. The color of the sea seemed a lot crisper and brighter to him as they dove, bathing everything in a pristine electric blue. Eventually, they descended to the bed of seagrass that made up their yard and, soon, Blue's house was finally in sight.

As they arrived, Stretch must have heard Blue chatting up a storm, because he showed up in the doorway, petting Shimmer like he was stroking a pet cat. "Right in time, Bro," he said, "someone's been wanting to talk to you for a while now."

Blue flashed his brother a grin then looked down to pet the lobster in his hands. "Hello, Shimmer! Did you miss me?"

Stretch chuckled. "I was actually referring to your shell. You left it on the table before you left.'

The merman's face lit up and he darted into the house, completely forgetting Red had tagged along. The skeleton monster met Stretch's gaze and gave him a nod, which Stretch returned. Red drew a finger over the lobster's head as he got close, and Shimmer looked at him expectantly, making Red roll his eyes before withdrawing a metal tin and pulling some bits of shredded herring out for the lobster to munch on.

"I swear that thing knows when I have food for him on me," Red said. "Hey, Stretch. How goes it?"

"Oh, you know, just doing whatever _floats_ my boat," Stretch told him, allowing the slight current to gently carry him along, causing his huge tail to slightly drag the ground and scrape patterns into the sand. 

"Heh, nice one," Red said. "Huh. Blue must really be caught up in what he's doing if he didn't start yelling about your pun." 

As he floated around Red, Stretch nodded. "Likely. It's been a while since he got a call on his shellphone."

"'Shellphone'?" Red asked, partially snickering at what he thought was another pun. Stretch nodded.

"They're like human phones in a way. Go and take a look."

Red headed into the house with Stretch bobbing along lazily behind him. He heard Blue excitedly talking to someone as he exited the kitchen, throwing himself over the stolen sofa as he entered the den. The mermonster was staring excitedly at something in his hands for a moment before noticing him.

"Hold that thought, Tori," he said. "Red! Red, come and see!"

The land monster did as he was told and swam over, throwing himself gently through the water so that he landed perfectly in the spot next to Blue. In the merman's hands was scallop shell, popped open and revealing a bubble of soft white magic tinged with lavender. The magic formed what appeared to be a milky image of what appeared to be a goat monster's face. Blue wrapped his arm around Red and tugged him into view.

"Oh, I see you have a guest!" the goat monster - Toriel - replied.

"Indeed, I do," Blue chimed happily. Red waved, hoping that would suffice for a good enough greeting. It seemed to please the goat person and they smiled warmly.

"You must be Red," came a motherly voice, "Blue has told me so much about you."

"Red, I would like you to meet Toriel. We all used to live in the same school together!"

"Yeah, I recall you mentioning something about that," he said, casting a look up at the sea glass mural before nodding to it. "So is she one of the folks that helped you make this?"

Blue nodded. "That is correct," Toriel said, "though my children were far more taken with such an artsy project than I was. It was mostly their doing, along with our dear Blue, of course."

The merman beamed, likely recalling the memory as he cast a fond look up at the mural. 

"I do not mean to be impatient, Toriel, but you said you have a big surprise for us?" Blue said. 

The goat monster smiled widely and said, "Perhaps my children should tell you-"

At that, three heads popped into view so fast that the translucent image because a bubble of white as various hues of red spiked among the lavender color. There were a lot of frantic voices and some obvious pushing and shoving as two children bickered between one another.

"Now, now, you can all tell him! Chara, Asriel - do give Frisk some room."

Another flurry of motion and Red could see the faces of not two but three children. Two looked to be humans while the third was a smaller version of Toriel. They all waved frantically.

"We're coming to visit you!" the goat child yelled. The two humanlike children nodded, all grins and smiles, which Blue quickly mimicked.

"I know! Your mom said she would be bringing you by in the spring!"

"Not in the spring," the tallest of the two humanlike children said.

"Yeah! Mom said were old enough now to make the journey during the winter! So we're coming to see you in a few weeks!"

Blue was ecstatic. His eyelights lit up and he almost bounced in place. "Really?! That is fantastic news! Stretch? Did you hear that?"

The other merskeleton floated over to join them on the sofa. The kids immediately started waving and shouting happily at Stretch, then turned their attention onto the lobster in his arms.

"It's Shimmer!" yelled the goat child. The smaller of the two humanlike merchildren moved closer to the bubble, looking like they were watching a puppy through a store window. "Man, he looks so big now! Look, Chara!"

"Yeah, Azzy, I think you're right," said the taller of the two merchildren. "He's definitely gotten bigger since we pulled him out of that trap."

Red looked over to Blue. It sounded like there was a story there.

"Chara, Asriel, and Frisk found Shimmer back in the summer on their way up for their last visit," Blue informed him. "They knew I was a bit downhearted since I had not had a pet since the clownfish I kept when I lived in more temperate regions with them, so they gave him to me as a birthday present."

Noises of affirmation all floated out of the shellphone bubble.

"Alright, come now, children," Toriel said, "let us let Blue get back to his guest."

"Bye, Blue!" yelled two of the children while the third waved. Not long after Toriel said her own goodbyes, the magic disappeared and the bubble popped, sending a small spray of magic-coated bubbles up to the ceiling. 

"This is wonderful, Red! You will finally get to meet many of our oldest and dearest friends!"

"Heh, right in time for Gyftmas," Red said. Blue's sockets widened.

"Oh, yes! That is some sort of big winter event on the Surface, is it not?"

"Yeah..."

He noticed Stretch looking at him and Stretch gave him a wink. The tall mermonster then yawned and stretched out one of his arms. "I'm going to go put this in the kitchen," he told Blue, holding up the tin Red had given him, "and then I'm gonna go take a nap. Have fun, you two."

"But you just woke up from a nap!" Blue told him.

"Yeah, but it was such a good nap, I feel like I need an encore before supper," he said, then shot Red a wink. "Seeya later."

Blue just shook his head as Stretch drifted out of the room. "That monster, I swear..." He turned back to Red. "You sounded like you were going to say something else?"

Red's head snapped to. "Oh, right. Yeah, I..." 

He scratched the back of his skull. He hadn't have a problem taking Blue sledding, but someone, the idea asking someone out on Gyftmas - especially when it was going to be his _first_ one - brought out his nerves. Normally, it wasn't a big deal. Monsters asked others over for Gyftmas all of the time. It was a communal holiday and his kind would snatch up pretty much anyone who looked lonely around the holiday to come join them. 

And he suddenly realized that he really, really did not want to be alone for his first Gyftmas without his brother. But Blue could always turn him down. After all, the merman might have other plans, and Red didn't want to get in the way of that. Still, he had to try, right?

"Store's gonna be closed that day, so I thought you and I could hang out. Show you what Gyftmas is like. Whaddya say?"

Blue was silent for a moment before his confusion morphed into genuine joy, and he tackled Red in a hug.

"Of course, I will, Red!" he told him, cackling with childlike glee as he lifted Red right off the sofa in his glee. Blue spun Red around once, completely disorienting a skeleton (who had never been on the receiving end of that from a love interest) before letting him go. "My first Surface Dweller holiday! Oh, let me go tell Stretch! I can't wait!"

Blue darted off to the kitchen, quick as a flash. However, just as Red got most of his equilibrium back, Blue swam back out to him.

"Thank you, Red!" he said, then clacked his teeth together with Red's. Red hadn't even realized Blue had freaking _dipped_ him until the merman was standing him upright. 

As the sea monster disappeared into the kitchen, Red couldn't help but laugh. Blue loved all things about the Surface. Of course, he was going to say yes. Red shouldn't have even worried.

Instead, as he listened to Blue's excited chatter, he fell back onto the sofa, fingerbones touching his teeth as his face heated with the magic of his namesake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you all so much for your lovely comments. Y'all make my heart go doki-doki. XD
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	20. CHAPTER TWENTY:  "An Unexpected Surprise"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red tries to keep his mind off his first Gyftmas without any of his family while completely hindering himself in doing just that.  
> He gets some help with that - but not from the hyperactive goofball he was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing on my days off, so you guys get a post-Thanksgiving treat!   
> (May those of you working retail Black Friday remain safe, sane, and have oodles of patience today. I dedicate this fluff to you.)

CHAPTER TWENTY: "An Unexpected Surprise"  
———————————

Time passed by in the strangest manner conceivable to Red as the days droned on toward Gyftmas. 

His time with Blue always went by so fast, leaving him perplexed as to how it had gone from dawn on his days off to the sun having all but vanished from the sky. Red was reluctant to see Blue leave, and though he didn't come right out and tell him to stay, it made him feel a bit clingy. He knew he should cut himself some slack. After all, he saw Blue, what, three-four days a week? Red took some time off for himself but as Gyftmas drew closer, he found himself monopolizing more and more of Blue's time. The other's presence was a balm to his SOUL - and his antics barely left Red time to think.

The first Gyftmas after losing someone was always hard. It had been hard after he lost his mother to a SOUL-wasting disease at age ten and arguably more so when his father had passed three years ago due to a workplace accident. And now, here he was, his first Gyftmas without his brother. Not that Edge was dead, thankfully, but for the time being, Red might as well have actually been dead to him.

Red hoped it wouldn't be that way forever but...

He knew he should just give up and get over it. His old life had gone down in a blaze of glory and, with each passing day, it seemed less and less like a kink in the crap chain that was his life and more of what was to be a permanent adjustment. It wasn't fair but that's how it was. 

Still, he was a stubborn soul, and not having contact with his brother left him wondering just how he was doing. Was he alright? Was he safe? Was he happy? Red hated that he was stuck with so many questions and no answers to any of them. Social media was out of the question, as was talking to any of their old friends. Cutting ties with Edge meant cutting ties with _everyone_.

For now, he was stuck waiting on Mettaton's upcoming Gyftmas concert so that he might snag a glimpse at his brother running around in his security uniform, making the sunglasses taped to his head look cool (even if Red would absolutely say he looked dorky just to get a rise out of him if he ever had the chance to again) as he went around making sure no crazy fans harassed his boss.

"...And I know we all will miss hearing Onionkun's fury on the drums," droned a voice from the video Red was watching. Mettaton and his band were being interviewed by yet another talk show host, and while Red could care less, such shows sometimes interviewed the robot's staff or snagged videos from events where Edge was working backstage. So far, however, no dice.

"I'll be happy to be back closer to my family," said a pearlescent octopoid monster sitting to Mettaton's right. The name 'Onionkun' and 'Former Drummer' came up in the news infographic. "I've missed being a professional lifeguard with my siblings Onionsan and Onionchan. It's been a hard decision to leave the band but I want to go back to my true calling."

"And what a calling that is," the host said, then rambled on about a short story where Mettaton's soon-to-be former drummer saved a bunch of lives over the years before flashing a special tribute each of his rescued fans had made for him, thanking him again for saving them, how much they enjoyed his music, and how some of them were happy to have him come home. This, of course, made the monster's freakishly large eyes tear up. Mettaton patted him comfortingly on both the shoulder and forearm using two of his four arms.

After a bit more back-and-forth banter, the host turned to Mettaton and asked, "Onionkun's role is one that will be difficult to replace, but any chance you'll let us in on who will be taking up the drummer's mantle?"

Mettaton chuckled and waved a finger playfully. "Ah ah ah! If I tell you all now, then it will spoil the surprise on Gyftmas! And we don't want that, now, do we?"

The camera panned over the audience, showing a mixture of disappointed murmurings and shaking heads. One girl in the audience yelled, "I'm fine with spoilers!", sending the whole audience and group on stage into hysterics.

"No, but I will tell you that the new drummer of MTT.N.T. is a person of many talents, and I assure each and every one of you that they are the gift that keeps on giving."

Red snorted. "That's one way to let everyone know you two are f-"

"He's totally fricking the new drummer."

Red threw his phone up into the air with a yelp, only narrowly catching it before it smashed onto the table. He whirled around on Janey who had just walked up behind him. The monster looked around the sandwich shop he was in before glaring at her.

"Can't you at least stop giving me heart attacks on my lunch break?" 

"What, and miss hearing you make noises like a strained goose? Never!" she said, then she walked over, pulled out a chair on the other side of the table, and sat down.

"Sorry, that seat is reserved."

"Ooh, is Blue around here?!" Janey's eyes lit up and she looked around before red corrected her.

"Nah, I was talking about Me. You sat in Me's chair, that one's for Myself, and I am right here," he said, pointing to each place at the table in turn. "This is a party for Me, Myself, and I, and us three alone. So, if you'll let me get back to my sub in peace..."

"Hey, you'll be happier to see me once you see what I have for you!"

Janey reached into her pocket and pulled out two little black boxes and sat them dramatically in the center of the table, grinning like a maniac. Red raised a bone brow.

"Janey, I like you and all, but I'm gonna have to turn down your proposal," Red snarked, "both of them. I'm kinda with someone, you know."

His coworker rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yeah, yeah, that's what these are for!"

Red's expression sobered quickly and he looked between the two boxes before giving Janey a very serious, puzzled look. "Wait, what? Jay, Blue and I have only been dating for a little while, we aren't ready to...I _know_ I'm not ready to...I mean, woman, what the hell?! Your shipping has gotten out of control-"

Janey shot him a deadpanned look. "Red. Calm the calamity that is your mammaries and open the damned boxes."

Completely flustered and a little bit disturbed that Janey might be reading more into his and Blue's budding relationship than even Red himself was, he told her, "I'm a skeleton. I don't have mammeries!"

About that time, a waitress walked by and shot him an odd look. Red just flashed her an awkward grin before she gave him a very befuddled look and walked off. Janey said nothing as her friend facepalmed.

"Red, stop making a fool of yourself and just open the boxes."

"Okay, fine," Red said, picking up one of the boxes and flicking it open with his thumb. Once he saw what was inside, he brought it out for inspection, picking up the long cord and letting it dangle, the 'charms' clacking together as he pulled it out.

In his hand was a necklace made from three shark teeth, each one barely as big as a single fingerbone digit.

"They're from the shark you caught," Janey told him. "I was going to give you yours on Gyftmas, but since you hadn't gotten Blue anything yet, I made you each one. That way, you match! Hope that's okay?"

Red opened up the other box and noticed that, while they were similar, each one had a differently colored cord. One was red, and the other was blue. He held the cords in one hand as he took the teeth into another, brushing his thumb over the slightly warped triangles. He chuckled.

"Did I do a good?" Janey asked.

Red nodded. "Yeah, Janey, you did a real good."

She smiled. 

"Though, I'm surprised you didn't want to give it to Blue yourself. I mean, I ordered something for him right after we talked."

"Okay, but was it something practical or romantic?"

"Practical."

Janey snapped her fingers. "Exactly, my dude," she told him. "Now, I'm not making light of practical Gyftmas gifts. I mean, I love my fuzzy socks. But you said this was his first one - and you guys are dating. Give him something for both occasions!"

Red looked over the necklaces one more time before he started chuckling, and then rose from his seat. He walked over to where Janey was.

"What's with that look? Oh no, what are you-?"

The skeleton monster cut her off with a tight hug before letting her go. Janey just looked at him, completely gobsmacked.

"Oh, wow, I must have done a REAL real good to get that reaction!"

Considering Blue literally saved him from that shark Janey thought he caught? The human woman had no idea how clever of a gift she had come up with that would perfectly suit him. Red couldn't help the wide grin that split his face.

Now, he had something else to keep his mind on until Gyftmas arrived: imagining how Blue was going to react over his gifts!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: "Meet the Merchildren"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue's old friends arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one update this week unless I have more time on my hands. Just one of those weeks where I happen to be extra tired and extra busy. But yah, two more days of work, then I get a break! If your day was like mine and a bunch of other people I know's day yesterday, then maybe this will bring you a wee bit of happiness.
> 
> Speaking of balms to the SOUL, have I ever mentioned how much I love headcanon blogs? I freaking do, and a pal of mine has made a totally awesome one that you can find here: [**https://marigoldsandbuttercups.tumblr.com**](https://marigoldsandbuttercups.tumblr.com)
> 
> And yes, I have already been sending them Asks. The writing is THAT good. So if you eat that stuff up as much as I do, then PLEASE go check them out. Like the Tarot card one is one of my favorites. So if you wanna make my week and theirs, go drop them a line! You won't regret it!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: "Meet the Merchildren"  
——————————————

Blue's old friends arrived two days before Christmas. When Red met Blue down by the shore, the merman was bouncing almost like a seal with how excited he was. Impatient, too, because it was only with a reminder that his normal clothes had hindered his movement in the water against the shark that Red was allowed to obtain his wetsuit first.

This time, Blue didn't bother to hold Red's hand. No, instead, he unsummoned his back spikes for the time being and gave Red basically a piggy back ride through the sea. The land skeleton clung for dear life as the Blue darted down into the depths, the water surging past him in such a fearsome current that he instinctively tightened his arms around Blue's neck and his legs around his waist like some sort of macabre koala (which, had he not been preventing himself from flying off into the deep blue yonder, might have short circuited his mind from the sheer closeness they were sharing).

Red's magic had gotten kind of swimmy by the time they reached Blue's house.

"We're here!" Blue shouted. "Red, are you still with me?"

Red threw up a shaky thumbs up before he loosed his hold, falling back and sinking down to the ocean floor like a robot from an old action movie they watched recently had. Blue let go of his legs and allowed Red to sprawl out onto the seagrass for a moment, eyes closed while he waited for the world to stop spinning.

"I will be right back!" Blue told him, and Red could hear from the swish of his tail that the merman had wandered into the house.

A short time later, he felt something drift above him.

"Blue, gimme a minute, the world's still swimming faster than you can," he said.

The sea monster hovered above him but said nothing. It was a little bit disquieting. Blue was kind enough to leave him to rest when he was tired but he was not above the random prank - which is what Red supposed he was doing when he felt something poke his forehead. It was done softly and quite obviously not one of Blue's phalanges.

Red groaned. "I'm laid out and you're over here poking me with a stick," he grumbled, "what kind of boyfriend are...?"

As he opened his eyes, his eyelights honed in on a very not-Bluelike shape. Instead, it was a merchild, humanoid in form with tan skin and a red tail flecked with bits of yellow like sand had caked to its scales - likely camouflauge if the way it shimmered to a duller, claylike brownish red said anything. If not for said tail, Red could have easily been convinced some human child in a purple and blue sweater was freediving along the bottom of the ocean. 

Its brown hair danced a bit on the waves as it peered at Red curiously. Then it waved.

"You aren't Blue," was all Red could think. The merchild shook their head, smiling as he sat up. "Recognize you from Blue's shellphone call the other day, though. Which one are you?"

The child put their hands to their mouth, giggling as their tail curled up, as if they had heard the funniest joke and wanted to keep as much of their mirth inside as possible. Then one hand began to do gestures.

Oh. That was sign, wasn't it?

Red's father had made him and his brother learn at an early age because Gaster himself had been taught it as a child. Given how much he gestured with his hands while talking and how many papers, spatulas, and car keys he had accidentally flung across the room during a rant over some project, he honestly figured his grandparents had done it just to give his hands something to be preoccupied with while talking (a tactic that seldom worked, though it was still a fond memory to see his dad so worked up he started going off in both sign and vocally).

"So you're Frisk, huh?"

The merchild nodded eagerly. They flicked their tail and slipped through the water around him as graceful as an otter, looking him over. Red raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, ain't'cha never seen a skeleton monster before?"

Frisk just grinned shyly and then swam down to peer over Red's flippers, the expression on their face looking very puzzled. Then, with a look of almost genius inspiration, they raised up, their lips smushed together as they moved their thumb and two fingers near their mouth. Red didn't even need to know sign language to realize they were calling him a duck.

He started laughing.

"No, those aren't my real feet! They're flippers. Here, see?"

Red popped one off to show them. Frisk looked horrified at first but then mesmerized. They snagged his flipper and held it aloft like they had been given the secrets of the universe. Red could help chuckling at their expression. It was like when his brother was a babybones and discovered he had toes.

"What, didja think I was gonna pop off my own foot?" he asked. Sheepishly, they nodded. "I mean, I _could_ , but who wants to go through the trouble of regenerating a whole limb?"

Frisk's jaw dropped like they couldn't believe what he just told them. They looked so ridiculously scandalized that Red struggled to keep from laughing in their face. Frisk looked over the flipper once more, then down to their tail, then back again. They waved it a little bit, swishing their tail in time before their face lit up with an idea and they gestured to Red's other foot, making motions of "please". Confused but interested to see what the child would do, Red pulled off the other flipper and handed it to them.

The merchild then proceeded to push both of their hands into the flippers and strike a pose with their arms throw wide and chest pushed out. 

"Okay, I see you decided to use my flippers for gloves, that's cool," Red asked, "but why?"

Immediately, they flicked their tail, sending them rocketing through the water like a shot. However, they dropped the flippers part of the way through and had to go retrieve them. Again, they snaked through the water but only seemed annoyed when trying move the flippers through the water.

"Hate to break it to ya', kid," Red told them, "but they aren't gonna help you swim any faster. They're made for big ol' foot bones, not little sticks like your fingers." Frisk huffed and blew their hair out of their eyes, bubbles floating along the strands. "You'd make an interesting-looking frog, though."

Flashing him a cheeky grin, Frisk puffed out their cheeks and then began doing short, quick sideways strokes with their arms like a frog.

"Yeah, you've got it."

The child smiled at the praise before continuing their frog impression. 

"Frisk! There you are!"

Red snapped his head toward the doorway as a large white creature ducked down to float through the door. When it erected itself, Red could see that it towered well above the doorframe, stretching at least eight feet tall as it's white fur ebbed and flowed in the current like the sway of seagrass, descending into a white-gray paddle of a tail, much like that of a manatee. He recognized the face of Toriel instantly.

Frisk brightened, waving to the goat sea monster. As if their name was a beacon, other mercreatures shortly began to appear. A taller, lithe merchild and a little kid goat mermonster popped up on each side of Toriel, peering around curiously. After being waved over by Frisk, the other merchild swam over immediately, though the kid goat hung back, gripping at his mother's long loincloth before looking up to access whether it was okay. Toriel nodded, gently nudging him forward with her palm before he took off happily through the water to join his siblings.

"Frisk, what are you wearing?" the other merchild asked with a laugh. Frisk simply posed happily again before doing their goofy frog stroke. The other child laughed and said, "Hey, I want a turn!" Frisk glanced at Red to see if it was okay and he nodded his permission. They passed the flippers over and the other child attempted to imitate them, but the short swishes of their tail made them look more like a dying fish that was trying to jerk its way through the water.

Red couldn't help but laugh then.

The other kid huffed then looked over their head to where the goat child was floating a few yards away, watching them while failing at holding back his snickers behind his hand. 

"Hey, Azzy, you come give it a try!"

"Oh, uh, me?" Asriel's long ears flopped up at the moment he was called out. He looked over to Red, who just shrugged.

"Go for it, kid."

Asriel smiled sheepishly ( _goat_ ishly?), replying, "Um, okay," before swimming over to take a look. The children chatted for a bit as Frisk and the other child - Chara - helped adjust the flippers on his hands. Asriel clapped his hands together for a moment, looking very determined, before loping through the water with ease, flippers working perfectly in time to make a very believable impression of a frog - if a frog with only two arms and a tail were a thing. The other children cheered before joining in with him. 

Suddenly, a voice boomed out from the doorway, startling Red with just how loud it was.

"What's all this?"

A goat sea monster far bigger and broader than Toriel now floated by her, looking on with amusement at the whole show. At his voice, all three kids suddenly puffed out their cheeks and started doing the goofiest frog impressions Red had ever seen. The newcomer looked like he was trying to to laugh.

"It seems our children have all turned into frogs, Asgore," Toriel said.

"Ah, that's a shame," Asgore said playfully, "for I have just finished carving up the tuna for tonight. But I suppose little frogs wouldn't enjoy tuna. We'll need to go to the Surface to find them some flies or-"

Immediately, Frisk and Asriel started to panic, with Chara cackling along with them. "No, no, we're not really frogs!" They swam over to their father and Asriel shouted, "We're still your kids! See?"

Unfortunately, Asriel did this while pressing the flippers to his face, as if trying to emphasize he hadn't changed. Instead, it just caused a rumble of laughter to escape Asgore.

"I don't know," Asgore said, giving Toriel a wink, "they seem pretty fishy to me."

Red snorted at the pun. 

"What say you, my dearest?" Asgore asked Toriel. She leaned down, rubbing her chin, and looked at Asriel thoughtfully.

"I must say, they are quite suspicious. My Asriel did not have fins on his hands like that when we arrived."

Asriel suddenly remembered the flippers on his hands and swam back to Red. "Thank you for letting me play with these!" he said. Red just grinned.

"You're welcome, kid," he told him. Asriel took off like a shot and his parents pretended to light up with surprise.

"There's our Asriel!' crooned Toriel as she was tackled in a hug.

Chara simply shook their head as Frisk and Asriel cheered over supper. "Siblings, am I right?" 

"Yeah, I get it," Red said in solidarity.

Asgore waved his arm and gestured for Chara to come to supper. Chara looked back at Red and nodded toward the door, indicating for Red to follow. After he put his flippers back on, Frisk decided he had taken too long and swam back over. Suddenly, Red found himself being pulled along by a very eager merchild while the other nonchalantly floated on their back next to him, arms crossed behind their head.

By the time the were almost to the door, Blue had poked his head out to see what had kept Red.

"I see you have met everyone!" he said with a wide grin. "Now, come on in, all of you! Supper is ready!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: "The Dreemurr Family"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red has supper with a family of mermonsters and sees that siblings are going to act like siblings, no matter where they grew up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank all of you for the lovely comments and continued love you've been generating for this story. You have no idea how much that means to me. I'll try to turn out a little more this week. I really enjoy working on my writing, and given I'm going into part of the year that's rough on me emotionally, I really need that TLC. Fortunately, my stress relief is your gain! XD
> 
> Thanks so much again!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: "The Dreemurr Family"  
———————————

Red noticed immediately that despite Blue's telling everyone that they were guests, none of the newcomers were keen to just sit back an enjoy themselves while he did all of the work. The tuna had been brought down by Asgore's trident and fileted by Chara, who was apparently quite adept at wielding a kitchen knife. Interestingly, Toriel was the one who cooked it - something that normally wasn't feasible underwater. Red was surprised to learn that a sea monster could wield fire magic, and she was more than happy to offer a demonstration.

"But first, supper! Asriel, Frisk, would you two set the table for us?"

Asriel puffed up his chest and saluted his mother, with Frisk copying him before bursting into giggles. The duo swam around, delivering plates to each spot, along with fishbone forks and reed straws. When they were finished, Frisk saw that Red was still standing near the doorway away from the hustle and bustle, so they swam over and started trying to lead him by the wrist toward a chair. Surprisingly for Red, Frisk took the seat next to him, looked up and grinned.

Blue slid into the chair on Red's opposite side and stage-whispered, "I think you have an admirer. Red snorted.

"Do I now?" he said grinning, looking down at Frisk and clapped them on the shoulder. "Well, I'm sure they could choose much worse."

He felt Blue's arm slide around his shoulders as Toriel stated, "Well, I for one think they have chosen quite well in someone to admire." The motherly pride in her voice caught him a bit off guard, especially when he realized she was aiming it toward him. "You seem quite good with children, Red."

"Heh, well, I suppose it comes with the territory, half-raising a little brother and all," he admitted.

"Yeah, tell me about it! Being a big brother is tough!" Asriel, who had taken a seat beside Frisk, piped up. He smugly straightened himself up in his chair, "You have to make sure they don't get into trouble. It's a very big responsibility!"

Chara ceased petting Stretch's nudibranch of the day (which was in the process of crawling off Stretch's arm and onto their shoulder) and shot Asriel a sly look. "Yeah, especially when I have to save a certain someone from the little fish that scared him to tears!"

Asriel let out an indignant noise, prompting Chara to laugh. "Hey! It was an angler fish! I was allowed to be startled! You see that light, you run!"

"Azzy, you swam screaming from a cave because a fish that wasn't any bigger than Dad's hand!"

"Yeah, well, Dad's hand are huge-"

Toriel snorted and pressed her lips together to try to keep the grin off her face but nearly lost it when Asgore started chuckling. The goat mermonster turned around with a huge tray of sunny-colored orbs placed on tiny bowls before going around the table to add them to the settings. "Are you saying that my hands are as large as an angler fish?" he asked his son, mirth trickling into his voice.

"Not a full-grown one!" Asriel told him.

"So you admit you ran away from a baby fish?" Chara said snidely.

"What? No, I- wait," he titled his head to the side, "if I ran from a baby fish, then are you saying Dad has baby hands?"

Toriel clapped her hand over her muzzle to stifle her giggles while Frisk buried their face into Red's arm, laughing so hard they couldn't make a peep. Asgore, with mock dejection, looked over his free hand.

"Toriel?" 

"Yes, dear?"

"I may need to see the healer when I return home if my hands keep changing sizes so dramatically."

The goat mermonster finally _did_ lose it, bursting into loud laughter that had her nearly doubled over onto the table. Asriel looked very indignant over the whole matter as most everyone else joined in his mother's contagious laughter. The merchild finally just rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair. As he slowly slipped down toward the floor, his eyes stared at the ceiling as if hoping for the magic mini-lanterns caught in the netting tacked up there would provide him backup.

"My family is so dramatic," he whined.

"Aww, don't worry too much about it, kid," Red told him, "I've seen pictures of those freaky fish. If I were in your shoes - ur, fins...Then I would probably be freaked out if I thought I saw one of those, too. Those things are f...uh," he glanced at Blue after feeling his phalanges squeeze his shoulder, and the look he received was one warning him not to swear around the children. "Angler fish are really ugly," he finished, leaving Blue with a satisfied smile.

Asriel, suddenly realizing he had someone on his side, shot up in his seat. "Man, don't I know it! You should've seen the one Blue brought back one time! It was the creepiest thing I've ever seen! Even though it was dead, it's head lure thingy still lit up a couple of times. Mom said it was 'rigid morbid'! Like it's muscles and stuff could still do some stuff even after it was dead."

"That's 'rigor mortis', Azzy," Chara corrected.

"That's what I said!"

Red looked back to his boyfriend. "Hold on, I thought angler fish live in some of the deepest parts of the water?"

"They do," Blue told him. 

"Blue and Stretch are skeleton mermonsters," Asriel said matter-of-factly, "so they can swim down to depths even Boss Monsters like Dad, Mom, and me can't!"

"Well, you can't anyway," Chara taunted, "because you are just a baby~!" They tried poking Asriel across the table with their straw until their father reprimanded them.

"Straws are made for drinking your tea, not booping your brother's snoot," Asgore said. Chara reluctantly apologized, to which Asriel stuck his tongue out at them (a move that Chara then mimicked). Red picked up the strange orb, feeling the weight of the golden liquid contained beneath a shimmering wisp of a membrane made purely from edible magic.

"So this is tea?"

Asgore brightened, his voice booming loudly throughout the renovated sunken ship. "Indeed, it is, my friend! I know it is not quite the way our neighbors from the Surface take their tea, but if I were to simply try to boil tea down here, then it would simply float away and mix in with the brine," he explained. "Trust me when I say that saltwater and golden seaflowers do not mix."

"So how do you get fresh water under the sea?" Red asked.

"Actually," Asgore told him, "I gather it from the Surface. Back at home, it is easy enough to gather it from rivers that spill out into the sea, but snow and ice floes work just as well." He walked over to a container of fused sea glass pieces and withdrew a thin film like the one around Red's tea bubble. "I just take one of these, catch water in it, then pinch it closed. I put the tea leaves into smaller bubbles and those will meld into this one. A little brine gets in but it is not enough to ruin the flavor."

Toriel smiled warmly as Asgore took his seat next to her. "My husband prides himself on his tea and his seaflower gardens," she told him. "Should you ever visit, you simply must see them."

For someone of Asgore's height and bulk, the look of boyish glee on his face strangely suited him. "You flatter me, Tori! I will admit, I take great pride in tending the seabeds of our home. I have recently taken to adding in some of the long algae that grows in the warm waters near some of the shores when I can sneak it without notice. They are unbelievably soft and make a lovely indoor aesthetic, even if my wife has to help me keep them warm with some of her fire magic bubbles."

He squeezed Toriel's hand gently, prompting a smile from the goat merwoman.

"They do remind me of the bay where we first met," she said, looking up at him. "Remember the waterfall?"

Asgore made a thoughtful sound. "And how the stars shone above us while the fireflies danced around us? Absolutely magical. Just the two of us, together."

Toriel smirked. "Three, remember?" Her husband lit up.

"Ah, that's right! The last time we visited was when you were carrying Asriel! How could I forget? You were so heavy with child that you nearly could not get off the rocks we had stretched ourselves upon!" A fond grin graced his muzzle. "You looked so cute trying to roll over. Just like a little seal-"

Toriel interrupted his mirth by taking her fork, stabbing it into some of the tuna splayed upon the table-length platter, and pressing it to his lips.

"You had best try the tuna while it is warm, my dearest," she said with a not so thinly veiled warning in her voice.

Asgore chuckled nervously. "Duly noted, Tori," he said, taking the fork - and the hint. Toriel nodded, pleased, as he handed her his fork in exchange. 

Red smirked. Their dynamic was much like that of his own parents, what little he remembered of his mother and father's interactions. Wingdings liked to dig his own grave by pestering his wife like that before an inevitable look immediately sent him into "Yes, Dear" mode. He snorted at the memory and recalled Ross and his wife behaving similarly when she had stopped by the butcher shop. Red honestly wondered if most long-term couples wound up that way eventually.

"Red!" Hearing his name, the skeleton monster turned around to see Blue holding up his plate, on which was a large slice of tuna with a large helping of the sea greens and scallops that had been used for garnish. "You have to try some of this!"

Instinctually, Red took the full plate offered to him while Blue swiped his own empty one for himself. As he did, he found just how easily two other words could have replaced "thank you" when regarding the mermonster.

_His_ mermonster, came the unbidden - though not unwelcome - thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: "Out of the Mouths of Babes"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter wound up a lot longer than normal - but hey! More for you guys!
> 
> Also, in other news, I've got some old character audios, podfics and such I've been meaning to finish up and post, so look for those on my Tumblr over the course of the rest of this month. A nice little treat to end December.   
> (btw, who wants to hear what Alphys would sound like if she was scary? Cuz I totally got an audio of that I made months ago XD)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: "Out of the Mouths of Babes"  
———————————————

...Thoughts, however, don't always go unheard - especially when Red had a very observant child looking at him. He glanced down to catch the tail end of Frisk making gestures to Chara, who shot Red a quick glance before nodding and murmuring.

"Frisk has what right?" Red asked them. Chara just snorted. Raising a bone brow, he looked down at the youngest of the merchildren and poked them in the side, making them giggle. "What are you over here saying about me, you little tadpole?"

Their hands glided through the water. Taking it upon himself to do a needless translation, Asriel announced, "Frisk says you look at Blue like Dad looks at Mom!"

Red felt the magic tingle over his face. Even though he did care for Blue, he felt a little odd still to be called out so brusquely in public. "Oh? And how else am I supposed to look at him? Like this?" 

He forced his eyelights to go in two different directions, sending Asriel into hysterics. As the goat kid pointed and laughed, Frisk tugged on his wetsuit sleeve to see better. Red, straight-faced, glanced down at them, eyelights still attempting to evade each other. The sight made Frisk collapse into giggles. He turned when prompted by Chara, still playing off his silly face like he had no idea what they were laughing at - though his grin completely gave him away.

Red then turned to Blue and shrugged. "I just can't see the problem. Can you?"

Blue pretended to study him for a moment, grinning widely. "I think I see what the problem is. Here, allow me to fix it!"

Before Red could ponder what Blue was doing, he felt two bony palms on each side of his face before Blue brought their faces together for a brief kiss. Instinctually, Red blinked in surprise from the unexpected pressure, half-flailing around in his chair so he didn't fall over. When Blue pulled back, Red shook his head to try to clear his senses.

"There," Blue said, looking at him fondly, "I fixed it."

"You kiss me like that again and I may just go cross-eyed," Red breathed. Blue just smiled and turned back to his dinner, casting a look over at the Surface Dweller as he picked up his fork.

After a moment, Red realized Asriel was speaking. Looking around, he noticed the merchild had pulled his ears over his face. "Eww, cooties!" he said. He released his hand to swat away Frisk's tugging at his ear, only to throw both of his hands out to keep them at bay when they started miming exaggerated kissy faces. "Gross! Get your icky kisses away from me!" 

"Aww, what's the matter, Azzy?" Chara crooned. "Don't you want to grow up to be Nose Nuzzle Champion like Mom or Dad?"

"No, I don't!" Azzy said. "Kisses are gross!"

Red did not miss the knowing look shared between Asgore and Toriel. "File that one away for when he's a teenager, Gorey," Toriel stage-whispered. That only suited to make Asriel protest even louder.

"No way, nuh-uh, never!"

"Oh, Azzy, don't be such a child," Chara said, toying with a piece of fish on their fork. "Besides, kisses are what brought you here." They popped the morsel into their mouth, grinning like a shark despite the flustered reprimands of their parents. "What? It's true! And one of these days, it's gonna be Azzy and Somebody, swimmin' in the sea, K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!"

Frisk started laughing before signing in time with Chara's chanting. Asriel looked positively scandalized.

"First comes Love, Second comes Marriage, then here comes Azzy with a Baby Carriage!"

"Oh, I hate you both!" he said, crossing his arms and huffing. His moody face didn't last too long when Frisk pulled him into an apology hug.

"Love you, too, Azzy!" Chara said, then turned back to eating while their parents just shook their heads.

"What on earth are we going to do with all of you?" Toriel said, clicking her tongue regretfully.

Red, who had been doing his best not to laugh at their antics, just shook his head. He shared a look with Blue and raised an eyebrow, nodding back toward the kids. Blue understood the unspoken question of "Siblings, amiright?" and answered with a good-natured chuckle and nod.

The land monster had just taken a bite of his fish when he noticed Stretch whispering something to Chara. Chara raised both of their eyebrows inquisitively, glanced over at Blue, and then an evil grin crossed their face. Red didn't think anything of it then, but in hindsight, he really should have.

"So Blue," Chara asked, "when are you guys gonna have kids?"

Immediately, the tuna stilled in his magic and Red felt himself choke. He swallowed hard to break apart the pieces at the back of his mouth before coughing hard enough to double over. At the same time, Blue nearly inhaled his straw, sending him into his own coughing fit. Still, in a moment of awkward chivalry, Blue patted Red on the back to try to dislodge what he was choking on while Stretch attempted to do the same to his brother.

Red had nearly gotten his wind back when he felt several harsh claps to his back, enough to nearly bowl him over onto the table. Stars danced across his vision as Asgore's voice boomed in his ears.

"Are you boys alright now?"

Red hacked a bit more but threw up one hand in alarm so as not to endure any more of Asgore's nearly spine-breaking help. He thought back to a time when one of his former coworkers had choked on his lunch and had to be given abdominal thrusts, thanking his lucky stars for his unique anatomy because Asgore surely would have bruised him up terribly if not broken a couple of Red's ribs in the process.

Blue eventually uttered, "Are you alright, Red?"

Sputtering, Red hacked out an, "I'm fine" and struggled to calm himself. Once he could speak again, he glanced over at Chara, blinking through bleary eyelights and asked, "What did you say?"

"I asked when you two were having kids," Chara repeated nonchalantly. Blue wheezed a bit, prompting Red to have to save his boyfriend from yet more of Asgore's help.

"Chara! Where did that come from?!"

Red glanced at Blue because he certainly hadn't heard Blue ever make such a high-pitched noise before, and he had to be sure those sounds were actually coming from his boyfriend. Not only was Blue the one making squeaky sounds, but his cheekbones were dusted with his own namesake. At least Red wasn't the only one caught off guard by the question.

"Yeah, bro," Stretch said lazily, "when are you going to make me a grandpa?"

Blue's magic continued creeping across his face as he gestured disbelievingly, with his face unable to decide whether it wanted to look confused, horrified, indignant, or some wild mixture of the three.

"Stretch, that is....that's not even right! You're my brother, not my father! My _little_ brother. How would you be a grandpa?! That makes...agh!"

He buried his face into his hands as he groaned out what amounted to a verbal keyword smash. Red didn't know if he was more surprised that Blue could even get flustered to the point of speechlessness or his bonefriend speaking more...well, like _himself_.

"Asgore," Red looked up at the goat merman, "I think you knocked the fancy talk out of Blue."

Blue's expression finally settled on wide-eyed horror, and Red could swear he could actually hear Blue's cervical vertebra creak like rusty door hinges as he slowly turned his neck to look at Red.

"I...! That is...I am well! I am perfectly capable of proper speech! This is an outrage! This...I..."

Suddenly, Blue snapped his head to look over at his brother. Red couldn't see the look on his face but it must have been something to behold because Chara quickly lost their cheeky expression and looked between the brothers in alarm. Stretch, however, looked wholly unfazed.

"Brother...!"

Stretch put up his hands. "Hey, don't blame me," he said, "you knew he was going to find out eventually."

With a melodramatic groan, Blue planted his face into his hands, grumbling in a way Red hadn't seen him act before. He knew Blue complained a bit about his brother, but it was usually in the sort of forthright, "upstanding citizen" way Red felt was mostly the realm of diplomats and storybook heroes from the books he used to read to Edge when they were kids. Stretch shook his head and gave Red a sympathetic look.

Hearing Blue exchange the prim and proper for good ol' garden variety vernacular felt surprisingly comforting. Not that the other way grated Red's nerves, but this way, Red didn't feel so dissimilar. Blue was already in a wildly different league than he was given his physical prowess, enthusiastic optimism, and the fact that he was a freaking mythological creature in the flesh.

"I _am_ capable of speaking properly," Blue whined. Red snorted. He couldn't believe something so minor was causing Blue to lose his marbles. 

"We know you are, dear," Toriel said.

Blue's hands slid from his downtrodden face and thumped to the table lifelessly. He looked toward Stretch again, likely mouthing something that Red could not see if Stretch's fond smile and chuckle were anything to go by. Asgore gently patted Blue on the back before swimming back around the table to take his seat.

Red looked down when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"What's up, kid?" he asked Frisk. The child pointed a finger toward Blue before making a series of gestures.

_Blue likes to talk fancy like Mom and Dad to make a good impression_ , they signed.

Asriel spoke up. "Yeah! It's because h-'

His words died as Frisk planted their palm firmly across his muzzle. A hissing noise erupted from Chara's place, causing Asriel to shrink down nervously in his seat. Red glanced over to see two red irises staring down the goat merchild with an unspoken warning.

Off to the side, Frisk moved their hand down through the water. Red raised a bone brow. What did Blue being short have to do with him talking like some antiquated aristocrat?

Blue didn't seem to notice either as he had taken to dejectedly poking his food. 

Red couldn't help himself. Seeing his bonefriend - this speed demon of the sea who could heft and throw a shark with ease and raise Red's spirits on a bad day (which, Red could argue, took more strength to lift than that thresher) - moping over something seemingly so silly was unbearably cute. For once, he actually had to stop himself from tackling Blue in a hug the way the merman did him.

Shaking his head at the very uncharacteristic thought, he shook his head and loped an arm around his partner's back.

"Hey, look up here," Red said. Blue groaned and turned away. "C'mon, none of that," Red said, hooking a finger under Blue's chin and gently turning his head to face him. Blue's eyelights weren't their usual stars, but instead, normal pips like his own, though his blue discs were a bit larger than Red's own. Red fought the urge to facepalm. How could one monster be so damn cute?!

Blue gasped loudly. "Red, don't swear in front of the children!"

Oops. Had he said that out loud? The bright cobalt flush across Blue's cheeks and the various snickers (and outright cackling from Stretch, who had thrown his head back against the backrest of his chair as he slumped down toward the floor) told him that he had. 

He felt his own indignation rise as he snapped, "Can't a guy call his boyfriend cute?" Red huffed and stood up, taking Blue's wrist. "Hey, we'll be back in a few minutes. Save us some fish."

Blue, perplexed, let Red lead him out of the kitchen. When they got to the front door, Red didn't bother turning around as he used his magic to slam it shut behind him. 

"You alright, Blue?" Red asked. 

"Yes, I am...I'm fine," Blue said, his words still at his "inside voice" volume and ringing of defeat. When Red reluctantly let go of his wrist, his eyelights dimmed briefly. Red quickly corrected his mistake by taking Blue's hand, linking their fingers together. Blue grin, which had dampened during the chaos, brightened a bit, albeit sadly so.

"Good. Figured you could use some fresh air. Er, fresh water? I mean saltwater, uh," Red grunted. "I ain't sure what you guys say when you need a break." 

Blue squeeze his hand. "It's alright, Red."

"Let's have a walk," Red suggested. "A swim? Darn it, you know what I mean!"

The merman chuckled a bit before flicking his tail gently so they could move along. It hadn't been very long since Red had last visited, but he really hadn't paid much attention to the underwater landscape surrounding Blue's home. Seeing it now as they swam along in silence, Red could appreciate the beauty of it. Hues of soft sunrise orange, dusky pinks, straw yellows, and pale grayish reds gathered in clumps, their soft tentacles swaying as the living garden sought out nutrients from the surrounding sea. It was stunningly beautiful amid the sharpness that winter's chill brought to the light reflected down into the water. Here and there, Red noticed little glimmers of magic that lit up as they drifted over the path.

"Sea glass," Blue offered, "imbued with magic. They normally don't light up unless they detect something large passing by at night - or Shimmer. I'm not quite sure why, but they seem to react to him. It's odd, I put a magic band around one of his legs but he often loses it, yet they sometimes still react to him. I guess it's the latent magic signature or something."

They drifted along as an unusually gentle pace, soft yet not quite languid, with Blue setting the stride. Red could see Stretch being carried along by the currents like this, but Blue? Yes, some of his energy was there but his mood had obviously tanked greatly. As silly as it seemed to be upset over the way he normally talked, maybe it was bothering Blue more than Red thought.

As they neared the figurehead that now made up the centerpiece of Blue's anemone garden, Blue released Red's hand and swam ahead, not looking back. Red stopped, watching as Blue drifted along until he came to a stop in front of the statue of the human woman, her arm outstretched and the shimmer of a magical light winking on inside of the lantern she held aloft. Blue stood, his arms at military rest as he looked up at the carved figure, and sighed.

"I really do speak like this!" Blue said in his normal fervor, "Just not all of the time." He fell silent for a few moments before continuing. "I guess the catfish is out of the bag, huh?" Blue said with a mirthless chuckle. "It is quite impossible to notice, but despite my sturdy bones, I am...quite diminutive."

"Yer short," Red said. 

Heaving an annoyed sigh, Blue nodded, "Yes, I am short! How can anyone miss it? Oh, wait, perhaps it is because I am so small that they do not see me!"

Red was shocked at Blue's outburst. Even when he nagged his brother over cleaning and the sock puppet, he had never sounded this upset before. Red could kind of understand where he was coming from, though, having been the shortest in his family ever since his brother was in middle school. He, himself, was short but broad, so while he had once been teased for his short stature and low HP (the perks of being a sickly young skeleton), his spending a few years working some physically strenuous jobs had increased the bulk that came with his latter teen years - the tradeoff for inheriting his mother's height genes. He was sure it we even more important to Blue who lived where large sea creatures and strong currents could potentially be life-threatening.

Blue looked down at the ground and shook his head. "I've always been so much smaller than everyone else. And though I have grown strong in my maturity, most still see this baby face of mine and behave as though I've just taken my first swim!" He threw his arms up in a huff. "I realize that my enthusiasm and energy does not add credence to my age, so I tried to act more calm and subdued before. It lasted about five hours before I had to go outside and swim around our parents' home before I lost my mind."

Red held back a chuckle. He could see Blue doing that.

"Instead of downplaying my energy, I decided that I would just be louder to make my presence known. Gesture more grandly. Do things that would gain me notoreity in the eyes of others!"

"I wanted to be that sea monster who could do great things, and the greatest I could think of was to bridge the gap between the Surface Dwellers and my kind, as we once we in the stories of old. I was told it was too dangerous, that it wouldn't be a good idea, that I would get hurt! But still, I had to try."

"When I learned you were releasing Shimmer even when he was stealing from your traps, I knew you had to have a kind soul. And when I discovered you were a skeleton monster like me? 'What luck,' I thought, 'he's just like me!' I just knew it would be easy to befriend you and move on from there."

"So I...may not have been entirely honest with you," Blue said. "I've never outright lied but I suppose I was never completely myself. I wanted to be the perfect representative, so I spoke as the Dreemurrs do. They're much older and wiser than I am, and I have emulated their speech before to make a good impression on others. It makes me sound wiser, I feel, and detracts from the focus on my height."

Again, another joyless laugh.

"I was determined to show you that the Great and Magnificent Blue was the right sea monster for the job! But..."

"But?" Red coaxed.

Blue sighed heavily.

"I...started to like you, Red," he said. "Forgive me if I am overstepping my bounds here, but you are very handsome, and that wasn't something easily ignored!" Blue chuckled, tugging at his bandana to loosen it from around his neck. "The more I got to know you, the harder it was for me to see you as just my first contact with the Surface. I wanted to see you, to spend more time with you, to-"

He fidgeted with the fabric as the blush slowly returned.

"I tried not to. I really did. But you wanting me to drop the 'Friend' bit and just call you by your name...Wowwee," he stared wistfully out over the bed of seagrass, "I really am deep in the brine, aren't I?"

Blue fell silent. However, this wasn't the easy silence of the two of them sitting on the couch as Red dozed off, or working on supper together, or even Blue letting Red rest after the umpteenth time sledding down to the beach. 

It was needlessly sad and pathetic of Red if he didn't do something to fix it.

"Let me get this straight," Red finally said, "you're telling me you just basically put on an act to make a good first impression and just kept it up...to impress me?"

The cobalt stain upon Blue's cheeks deepened. "I...Yes."

Red swam over to Blue and put his hand on the merman's shoulder. "You really are too freaking cute for your own good." Blue whirled around, mouth opening to object when Red held up a finger. "Hey, it doesn't matter if you're some sort of merman Hercules - you still do crap that's cute. That ain't a jab at your height. I mean, I'm not one to talk. Look at me!"

He threw out his arms and gestured toward himself. Blue gave him a once-over before saying a very approving, "If that is what you wish, then I am quite content with that."

The Surface Dweller snorted. "You know what I meant," Red said. "Now, I'm not sure who made you feel like you were invisible because you're Me-sized, but I say fuck 'em."

"Red!"

"The kids ain't out here!" he said, trying to hold back his grin at the one he was quickly coaxing out of Blue. "Besides, if someone can't see you, it's because you're a blur underwater as fast as you are. Yer tail blends right in."

Blue chuckled. "I mean, that's true. If I didn't want to be noticed, all I would have to do is be quiet for a bit."

Red snorted. Blue looked at him hopefully. "So, does that mean you are okay with, you know, us? Still?"

Rolling his eyes, Red gave him a droll look. "Oh yeah, I really wanna break up with you because you put on a front for a little bit like pretty much everyone I've ever known who's worked customer service. Yup, just gonna leave you right here. Like this," he said, his voice growing softer as he floated closer to Blue. He slipped his hand around the sea monster's, feeling the accepting squeeze around his fingerbones, "like I don't freaking look forward to your antics every time I see you."

"Don't swear..."

"I said 'freaking', not-" 

Red's face dipped in to meet Blue's, thankful that the figurehead was obscuring the porthole where he had noticed only moments before that Toriel had pulled three merchildren's faces (and that of one older merskeleton) away from the glass. When he pulled away, he found his hand returned to Blue's face and Blue's free arm had snaked around his back to grip at his wetsuit.

"...Damn," Red said, a wolfish grin splitting his face.

"That's not what you were going to say," Blue said. Red chuckled darkly. 

"Oh? Did you actually want to hear me say-"

Blue cut him off with a quick kiss, smiling his usual brilliant smile as he pulled away. His arm slipped from Red's back, but his phalanges remained smugly in Red's grasp as they began swimming back toward the shipwreck.

"I take it you forgive me?" Blue asked.

"What's there to forgive? Knowing you can actually put up a front isn't a bad thing, y'know?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it makes you more monster," Red told him. "You've gotta think: your kind is just myth to us from the Surface. I'm still getting over the fact you didn't just spring out of one of my kid brother's old movies and said, 'Hey, date me!'"

Blue laughed.

"By the way, Red, what's a Hercules?"

Red grinned. "Looks like I've got another movie to show you."

As they drifted back to the house, Blue's renewed smile felt like a balm to Red's SOUL, and he honestly felt he had grown closer to the sea monster after his revelation. It was good to know they had a few more things in common.

Including how they were both liars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want to know what Stretch said, it was "Hey, wanna help me make my own bro lose his marbles? Ask him about him and Red having kids." And yes, for once, Stretch did some nagging to his bro (behind the scenes as it was). Somebody who thinks his puns and sock puppet jokes are funny and treats his brother well is someone he respects, and he wanted Blue to be happy _being himself_. I'm surprised no one pointed out that Stretch didn't speak nearly as properly as Blue. 
> 
> Did any of you guys have guesses Blue was putting up a front, or did I legit surprise you all with that twist?
> 
> Also, I HAD to put Stretch making a joke about Red and Blue having kids in there because SIBLINGS, AMIRIGHT, but right after I decided to work that in there, you guys started joking around about Janey making similar jokes and I just died XD
> 
> TUMBLR: https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/  
> YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg


	24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: "A Night on the Surface"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Blue take the kids to the Surface for some wintertime fun.  
> Stretch and Red have a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve everyone! The 24th chapter of this fic on December 24th, how neat did that turn out?  
> I hope you all are enjoying the holidays, but if you need a pick-me-up, I've got news for you:
> 
> 1) Jacksepticeye just revisited Undertale for Nostalgia Week. He ended the video off at some point in Snowdin but not before he did like the best, goofiest Patrick Starr voice for Sans (after like a super creepy intro) and the offbrand Skeletor voice for Papyrus. It was wonderful and brought up so many good memories of when I was first introduced to the game that it was just an awesome way to start the morning.
> 
> and 2) You guys have probably been wondering where I was for a few days. Well, apart from the new job about to open up it's new location, I have made an Undertale Imagines blog! Yahhh! I do most of the AUs but most of the requests I've had lately are the OutCodes. I do both headcanons AND matchups, so, if you want to come join me over there, here's a link: [Read's Undertale Imagines!](https://readwithimagination.tumblr.com/post/637410365839474688/faq-welcome-to-reads-undertale-imagines)
> 
> The link takes you straight to my FAQ, but the only thing on there you really need to look at are the handful of things I won't write because most topics and ships are free game. So drop on by and send me a little somethin'-somethin'.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: "A Night on the Surface"  
————————————

Unsurprisingly, there was a flurry of swishing noises as Red and Blue reentered the house. 

Upon drifting back into the kitchen, Red noticed most everyone was trying to pretend like they had not been watching what had been going on, but Red knew better. Even without the flurry of bubbles collecting on the ceiling from their harried swim, he could see that Frisk and Asriel had accidentally swapped chairs before they had commenced to shoveling food into their mouths. Stretch was leaned back in his chair, both hands behind his head, acting as though he didn't see Shimmer stealing his supper or his random nudibranch now slowly crawling up the side of Asgore's head. To Asgore's own credit, he also pretended not to notice, instead focusing on his tea and making minor chitchat with his wife over how the latest batch had turned out. Toriel simply ate her food like a normal person and, had Red not seen her tug away four of the six people at the table from the window, he actually would have believed that she had not been spying.

The only one who made no effort to hide their curiosity was Chara, who was staring at the archway as the couple entered.

Red had to give the kid credit for being shameless.

"Ah!" Asgore turned his head and threw up his hand, nearly dropping his tea bubble and having to fumble to catch it. The nudibranch swung around on his long blond beard from the sudden movement, swinging around wildly as it had gotten stuck in a tangle of fur. Asgore winced but ignored it. "You two have returned! Not that we noticed how long you were gone. Isn't that right?"

A chorus of nods and yeses - along with various comments about how nice the fish was and, oh, they were gone? accompanied his words. Chara just raised an eyebrow before jabbing their fork into their supper.

"You two done smooching now?" they said, followed by a grunt - likely induced by the subtle shifting Stretch did in his chair. Immediately after, the merskeleton let out a soft noise of his own. Red didn't need to be a nuclear scientist to know they had just swatted one another under the table with their tails.

"Chara," Toriel said warningly, "mind your manners." She turned toward Red and blue as they took their seats. "Do you two feel better, my dears? It is never fun to swallow fish down the wrong tube."

"Yeah, 'specially when us skeletons don't even have tubes," Red said.

The rest of supper went relatively peacefully, save for some awkward fidgeting by Frisk once they were finished eating. Red noticed them glancing over and gnawing on their lower lip, so finally, he decided to bite the bullet and ask what was up with them.

Fortunately, unlike Chara, Frisk didn't seem out to troll him. However, their gestures gave him pause.

"You want to go to the Surface?"

Frisk nodded eagerly, clapping their hands together in supplication.

"Ooh, ooh, me, too!" said Asriel.

Red made a thoughtful noise. "I don't know," he said, "that's up to your parents." He looked to Blue for guidance, but the mermonster seemed fairly pleased with the idea. Toriel and Asgore, too, seemed oddly okay with it.

"Blue has told me that the cove where you two meet is fairly secluded," Toriel said, "and unlikely to be a place where any of us would be spotted."

That was true. The waters near the little inlet were so choppy lately that even the handful of hardy humans that lived out in the country near Red refused to go near it, preferring to stick to inland fishing - if they ventured out to fish at all. The bitterly cold temperatures certainly didn't help either.

"I mean, I don't mind taking you all up to the beach," Red told her, "but won't they get cold?"

He eyed the children. Asriel's fur was much shorter than his parents but it looked fluffier, so Red wasn't quite worried about him. However, Chara and Frisk had no hair save what covered their heads and a sweater a piece - both of which hung loosely on the children, looking more like castoffs Toriel had picked up from their having been swept out to sea than personally tailored to fit each.

Frisk smiled and shook their head. Chara then piped up, "When Mom fixed up our sweaters, she put magic into them to keep us warm. Besides, we've also got our Warmers."

Red raised a bone brow. "Warmers?"

As it turned out, the "Warmers" were bands made to go around each child's wrists, head, and tail. According to Toriel, they were easy to make, so long as one knew fire magic.

"You have to focus, though," she told Red as she helped Frisk affix their band just above their tailfin, "the bands are controlled through concentration. Fortunately, small ones like these only take a little focus to reach a stable temperature."

With the last band affixed, a yellow-orange shimmer surged up Frisk's body, winking out in a glimmer of sparkles. However, if Red looked closely in the light, he could see a slight glittering shimmer coating the children's forms.

He held up one that Frisk showed him. "Wait, these things aren't gonna catch on fire, are they? Up here, they tell our kids not to play with matches and stuff like that."

Toriel snorted, capping a hand over her mouth. "Oh, dear me, no! I have not put enough magic into the children's to do something like that."

"But you could?"

"Certainly," she replied, smiling fondly at Frisk as they affixed the last of their bands, posing as the shimmering forcefield powered up. "I have done similar with clam and oyster shells. It is a bit harder for sea snails but the results are delicious!"

Red raised a bone brow, reminded of when one of the local farmers said that her goats would eat anything. Clearly, that applied to the sea monster variety, as well.

With the children properly suited up, they scooted across the sand toward Red, looking up at him with eager amusement at the bodyboards he had retrieved from his house. He glanced over at Blue and winked at him.

"You kids ready to go sledding?"

A chorus of cheers resounded and Red nodded.

"Alright," he said, leaning down so Blue could wrap his arms around his neck. Tucking one are under his tail and keeping the boards held firmly in the other, he stood up. "Blue and I are going to show you how it's done. Then you guys get a go."

He didn't teleport too far away, just enough up the slope so Toriel and Asgore could clearly see them from the shore. Even though it seemed like they trusted Red, Red wasn't about to cause two enormous mermonsters to lose their minds over their kids being out of range - especially one carrying a huge trident to ward off nosy sharks and whales and another who could roast him to a crisp. He was still getting over the fact that Toriel could produce fire underwater. The sheer heat it took to maintain a raging ball of what was more plasma than fire was amazing, but to watch the water ripple and boil around it while also being underwater - and for Toriel to not have so much as a hair on her hand singed in the process - topped his list of some of the coolest things he had ever seen.

The children, of course, saw Red and Blue sailing down the hill like maniacs and immediately wanted to give it a go. Chara and Asriel got their own boards while Frisk happily shared between the two. The two older siblings quickly turned it into a competition and playfully fought to get Frisk on their respective side so they could go down the hill faster.

Eventually, however, Red was beginning to tire of teleporting the kids up the road and started just lugging them over his shoulder or under his arm. Chara found it funny to go slack and be dead weight and Frisk nearly choked Red from behind when they tried to climb up and cling to his neck. Asriel was the only one that tried to behave properly for his carrier, but began sticking his tongue out at Chara part of the way up the hill once.

Finally, Blue stepped in to give Red a break from the rambunctious merchildren.

"Red," he said, "let me take it from here!"

Blue had stowed a couple of coils of rope he had swiped from Red's boat under his arm. grateful for the reprieve but curious, he handed over the bodyboards and watched as Blue eagerly hurried the children toward the beach. He watched Blue tie a length of cord to each board and then told the children to get on. 

"Now, hold on tight!" he said. Frisk and Chara did as they were told while Asriel hugged Frisk, seeing as how he didn't have much of a handhold on the handles left to grab. "Ready? One...two... _three_!"

Instantly, Blue dove, yanking the boards forward with a wild whoop from their passengers. The merskeleton cut through the frigid, choppy waters like a knife through butter, with the children screaming in delight as they bounded over the waves. Red couldn't help but laugh as he watched his boyfriend pull the kids around as if they were jet skiers following a boat.

He set up a lean-to shelter with an old wooden barn door that had drifted onto the beach one day, negating some of the wind has he took a seat near Stretch and Toriel. After a few passes through, Chara seemed to get and idea and waved over to their parents before Asriel started shouting for them to come join. They tried to turn them down but then the kids started chanting for them to race.

That seemed to do the trick because both mergoats looked at one another with childish glee gleaming on their faces before they headed out to take a board each from Blue.

Red was surprised to see just how fast two sea monsters as large and bulky as Toriel and Asgore could move through the water, because when the two of them took off racing around the inlet, he could see how mercreatures such as them could easily have fared against much larger sea predators.

He let out a long low whistle. "Damn, remind me never to tick those two off," he told Stretch, "I'm pretty sure at the rate they're traveling, they could break through the hull of a ship."

"Asgore did have a bad tendency to accidentally bash in walls of their first home when he got excited," Stretch said. "He watches his tail much more now."

"Blue told me you have a friend that nearly clipped off the edge of a cliff with a trashcan lid once, but I didn't think this sort of show was normal for you guys," Red admitted. "What about you, Stretch? You secretly bench press sunken submarines in your spare time?"

Stretch snorted. "Nah, I prefer to just go with the flow," he told Red, "my fins protect me most of the time."

Red glanced at Stretch's tail, noticing the lionfish-like spikes that trailed lazily in the water, currently unhardened for combat. He figured Stretch must be able to call upon a lot of them if he had to, given the rest of his tail looked more like a jellyfish. Or did he secret poison like some fish?

"Oh, yeah, you know me," he said, "just sitting over here, emitting slime."

That one made Red snort.

"Actually, most sea life stays away from me," he said, "they see the orange light up and think 'danger' since a lot of other colorful fish are poisonous. Of course, I've never bitten myself to see if I am, so..."

Stretch eyeballed his tail for a minute. "I wonder if I taste better seasoned..." He looked over when Red slapped his thigh from laughing so hard. "Hey, I DID have a close call one time."

"Yeah?" Red asked. "Orca?"

"Nah," Stretch said, "Mola mola."

Red's laughter was so loud it actually got Blue's attention that time. He waved to his bonefriend as Asgore and Toriel passed by him, assuring him he was alright. When he was finally able to speak again, he wiped a tear from his eye and looked at Stretch.

"Are you telling me you got chased by the laziest, dopiest-looking fish in the sea?"

"Hey, they eat jellyfish," Stretch told him, "but to be honest, I don't think those things under _sand_ the difference between a mermonster and an actual jellyfish."

Red just shook his head and chuckled. "Y'know, we haven't hung out all that much, Stretch, but you're a pretty cool dude."

"Heh, the cool dude's my brother," Stretch said. As if on cue, Blue threw his hands up in a loud whoop, cheering as Asgore narrowly edged out Toriel in another lap.

"He sure is," Red murmured fondly. He looked over when Stretch clapped him on the shoulder and saw the taller skeleton staring out to sea.

"My bro's quite the idealist," Stretch said, "I was a little nervous about the idea of him actually coming into contact with the Surface, but after meeting you, I wasn't so worried. Especially after noticing how much you cared about him." He fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment before continuing. "I'm glad he finally got over his silly act and started showing you more of his true self. I just hope you can do the same."

Red was taken aback but tried not to show it, though he could feel his SOUL pounding in his chest. "I don't know what yer talking about," he looked away, puzzling over what it was that he might have said that could have led Stretch to think something was off. He wracked his brain. But how? 

Stretch just squeezed his shoulder lightly before removing his hand. "I know that look. Pensive, like you're reading the situation and waiting for it to all turn around on you like it's some big joke," Red glanced at him and he smiled. "Wasn't always this laidback, y'know. Believe it or not, I was a pretty skittish kid."

"You?" Red asked. Stretch nodded.

"You remind me of myself sometimes," he said, "back before I started letting things go. I was a real worrywart. Came from a small school so I didn't know how to interact with others when we moved to a larger one. Meeting new people's kinda scary. You don't know if they're gonna like you, and if you admire them, sometimes, you put up walls that are hard to break down but even harder to maintain. But you know something, Red?"

"What's that?" he said, mentally kicking himself when his words came out more defensive than he intended.

"I know that when you let Blue in past those walls you've erected," Stretch told him, "that he's going to love what's behind them as much as what you've already allowed him to see."

Against his better judgment, Red let out a hollow laugh and said, "How do you know that?"

"Just call it a hunch," Stretch said. "Besides, anybody who looks at my brother the way he looks at you? Whatever else there is, I can't imagine it would be anything you two couldn't work through."

'Then you don't really know me,' Red thought. As he looked out over the waves, he tried to will away the voices that ate at him from the dark recesses of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [TUMBLR (main)](https://readwithdetermination.tumblr.com/)   
>  [TUMBLR (Undertale Imagines)](https://readwithimagination.tumblr.com/)   
>  [OTHER AO3 (18+)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadWithSINcerity)   
>  [YOUTUBE](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQd1Pjqd6plN9Z8EjmvVvg)


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